Resident areas and migrations of female green turtles nesting at Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Endangered Species Research
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Abstract
Satellite tracking in marine turtle studies can reveal much about their spatial use of breeding areas, migration zones, and foraging sites. We assessed spatial habitat-use patterns of 10 adult female green turtles (Chelonia mydas) nesting at Buck Island Reef National Monument, U.S. Virgin Islands (BIRNM) from 2011 – 2014. Turtles ranged in size from 89.0 – 115.9 cm CCL (mean + SD = 106.8 + 7.7 cm). The inter-nesting period across all turtles ranged from 31 July to 4 November, and sizes of the 50% core-use areas during inter-nesting ranged from 4.2 – 19.0 km2. Inter-nesting core-use areas were located up to1.4 km from shore and had bathymetry values ranging from -17.0 to -13.0 m. Seven of the ten turtles remained locally resident after the nesting season. Five turtles (50%) foraged around Buck Island, two foraged around the island of St. Croix, and the other three (30%) made longer-distance migrations to Antigua, St. Kitts & Nevis, and Venezuela. Further, five turtles had foraging centroids within protected areas. Delineating spatial areas and identifying temporal periods of nearshore habitat-use can be useful for natural resource managers with responsibility for overseeing vulnerable habitats and protected marine turtle populations.
Study Area
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Resident areas and migrations of female green turtles nesting at Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands |
| Series title | Endangered Species Research |
| DOI | 10.3354/esr00793 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Year Published | 2017 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Inter-Research |
| Contributing office(s) | Wetland and Aquatic Research Center |
| Description | 13 p. |
| First page | 89 |
| Last page | 101 |
| Country | United States |
| State | U.S. Virgin Islands |
| Other Geospatial | Buck Island Reef National Monument, St. Croix |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |