Casey Key Loggerheads-2005-2006
Mote Marine Laboratory

Mote Marine Laboratory

The history of sea turtle research is shaped by researchers having convenient access to turtles while nesting on land. However, marine turtles face threats for the other 99% of their life cycle in seas far from the nesting beach. The major rookery of loggerhead nesting in the Gulf of Mexico is in Sarasota County where the beaches are monitored by the Mote Marine Laboratory's Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program and Coastal Wildlife Club, Inc. While there is a firm grasp of the terrestrial challenges in maintaining viable nesting beaches, there is less certainty of threats in the oceanic realm once females depart the nesting beaches. A key to understanding the in-water life history is to follow the turtle movements.
Tracking the movements of marine turtles is a challenge because they migrate between spatially distant developmental, breeding, and adult feeding habitats. Consequently, the management of highly migratory turtles requires a regional management approach. Turtles that nest in Florida may migrate from the Gulf of Mexico, Eastern Atlantic, or Caribbean. The converse is also true, that turtles feeding in Florida waters may later migrate elsewhere to nest.
This migratory behavior poses several key management questions. Where do turtles travel from the nesting beach? What hazards do they encounter en-route to and from a feeding ground? Can portions of their travel routes be safeguarded during a migration? Do all turtles take the same route or do individuals select different routes and habitats? Another set of questions arises about their responses to oceanic variables such as currents and temperature. Do sea turtles migrate seasonally in response to winter temperatures? Are the home habitats spatially diffuse or do they congregate at current boundaries or eddies? Tracking migratory paths can detail critical habitat use through the year as travel corridors and destinations are mapped in relation to potential threats, such as incidental capture in coastal or pelagic fisheries, harmful algal blooms, or zones of boat traffic.

N/A

Project partner
The project is coordinated by the Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program at Mote Marine Laboratory. The Casey Key Association allows access to the beachfront along this stretch of coast.



Project sponsor
Satellite tags and tracking time were sponsored in whole or in part by:
Mote Scientific Foundation, Virginia Miller, New Canaan Country School, Jeniam Foundation, Norcross Wildlife Foundation, Sirtrack, Coastal Wildlife Club, NASA Signals of Spring
www.signalsofspring.net
www.norcrossws.org
www.countryschool.net/users/clener/index.html

Overview

Attributes described below represent those in the original dataset provided by the provider.
Only minimum required attributes are visible and downlodable online. Other attributes may be obtained upon provider's permission unless otherwise noteded below.

Attributes in dataset provided

Attribute (table column)	Description
sort
uid
prognum
tag_id
year	Year of location
mon	Month of location
day	Day of location
hour	Hour of location
min	Minute of location
sec	Second of location
utc
lc
iq
lat1
dir1
lon1
dir2
lat2
dir3
lon2
dir4
nb_mes
big_nb_mes
best_level
pass_duration
nopc
calcul_freq
altitude
sensors
species	Species observed
tsn	Species ITIS TSN
timestamp
project_id
lc_filter
speed_filter
distance_filter
topo_filter
time_filter
angle_filter
oid	Unique ID number (generated by SEAMAP)