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Forage-diving behaviour of adult Japanese female loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) inferred from Argos location data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2004

Hideo Hatase
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan Ocean Research Institute, University of Tokyo, 1-15-1 Minamidai, Nakano, Tokyo 164-8639, Japan
Wataru Sakamoto
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan Fisheries Laboratory, Kinki University, Shirahama, Wakayama 649-2211, Japan

Abstract

Adult female loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) nesting in Japan use different feeding habitats as a function of body size. The Argos location data of two females inhabiting either oceanic or neritic habitats were analysed to infer their foraging and diving behaviour. There were no significant differences in the number of transmissions received per satellite pass, the number of locations per day, and the frequency of location-accuracy classes between oceanic and neritic females, implying that there was little difference in the time these two turtles stayed at the sea surface. Two possible forage-diving behaviours are suggested for these turtles: (1) both dive duration and depth were not different between the two feeding habitats; or (2) although dive duration was not different between feeding habitats, dive depth was different.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2004 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

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