Juvenile Green Sea Turtles from Argentina

Data provider
Regional Program for Sea Turtle Research and Conservation of Argentina
Originating data center
Satellite Tracking and Analysis Tool (STAT)
Project partner
Buenos Aires Zoo.
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
Reserve of Multiple Uses Bahia Blanca, Bahia Falsa and Bahia Verde (OPDS).
Regional Program for Sea Turtle Research and Conservation of Argentina (PRICTMA)

Project sponsor or sponsor description
Buenos Aires Zoo
Velero Haiku, Club Náutico Bahía Blanca, Argentina
Zoo Conservation Outreach Group (ZCOG)

[ENGLISH]

Argentina is the southernmost green turtle boundary of the West Atlantic Ocean. Early juveniles of this species inhabit the coastal waters of Argentina with evidence of the occurrence of green turtles along 2800 km of coastline; from Gualeguaychu (33º01'S, 58º30'W) to Puerto Piramides (42º34'S, 64º16'W). Individuals seem to be congregated at estuarine areas such as Samborombon Bay (34º- 36ºS to 55.5º- 57ºW) and Bahia Blanca estuary (38º- 35ºS to 61º- 62ºW) during the warm season. In Samborombon Bay, incidental capture of turtles in gillnets and marine debris ingestion have been detected as the main threats for this species. In the Bahia Blanca estuary, incidental capture in shrimp nets has been frequently recorded since 2003 and live turtles have been recovered since then.

The turtles remain at the estuaries for an unknown period of time after which they migrate hypothetically to tropical latitudes. A broad understanding of the biology and ecology of this endangered species has not been achieved in this area yet. Simple questions such as how much time do the turtles spend in Argentine waters, where do they migrate next, what are they feeding on and how much of the turtles' distribution is overlapping with different anthropogenic activities are now beginning to be answered.

The general goal of this project is to contribute to the conservation and knowledge of the green turtles in Argentina through community involvement and scientific research focused in their habitat use, movement patterns and feeding ecology.

[ESPAÑOL]

El Mar Argentino es el límite sur de la distribución de la tortuga verde en el Océano Atlántico Suroccidental. Juveniles tempranos de esta especie habitan a lo largo de 2800 km de costa, desde la ciudad de Gualeguaychu (33º01'S, 58º30'O) hasta Puerto Piramides (42º34'S, 64º16'O). La mayoría de los registros se concentra en zonas estuariales como el estuario de Bahía Blanca (38º- 35ºS to 61º- 62ºO) y la Bahía Samborombón (34º- 36ºS to 55.5º- 57ºO) durante los meses cálidos. En esta última, la captura incidental en redes de enmalle y la ingestión de residuos tales como bolsas de plástico han sido detectadas como el principal problema de conservación para esta especie. En el estuario de Bahía Blanca, la captura incidental en redes camaroneras ha sido registrada desde el año 2003, pudiéndose desde entonces recuperar los animales vivos para ser instrumentados con transmisores satelitales.

Las tortugas permanecen en estos estuarios por un período de tiempo desconocido luego del cual migran hacia latitudes más cálidas al llegar el invierno. Se conoce muy poco acerca de la biología y ecología de esta especie en esta parte de su distribución. Preguntas tales como de qué se alimentan en el Mar Argentino y cuánto se superponen sus desplazamientos con actividades antrópicas como la pesca están empezando a ser respondidas.

El objetivo general de este proyecto es contribuir a la conservación y al conocimiento de las tortugas verdes juveniles del Mar Argentino a través del trabajo conjunto con la comunidad y la investigación científica de sus desplazamientos, uso de hábitat y alimentación.

N/A

Visit STAT's project page for additional information.

Overview

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

Attributes in dataset

Attribute (table column)	Description
prognum	Program number
tag_id	PTT ID
lc	Location class
iq	Quality indicator
dir1	Dir 1
nb_mes	Number of messages received
big_nb_mes	definition not provided
best_level	Best signal strength in dB
pass_duration	Pass duration in seconds
nopc	Number Of Plausibility Checks successful (from 0-4)
calcul_freq	Calculated frequency
altitude	Altitude used for location calculation
sensors	Sensors
species	Species name
project_id	STAT Project ID
lc_filter	Parameters to location filtering
speed_filter	Parameters to speed filtering
distance_filter	Parameters to distance filtering
topo_filter	Parameters to topo filtering
time_filter	Parameters to time filtering
angle_filter	Parameters to angle filtering
life_stage	Life stage of the animal
gender	Gender of the animal
wetdry	Wet or dry
wetdry_filter	Parameters to Wet or dry filterint
obs_datetime	Date and time (local time zone)
timezone_h	Time difference from UTC