Leatherback Tracking in South Africa

Paolo Luschi

doi:10.15468/vbgrva

Leatherback Tracking in South Africa

Citation

Luschi, P. 2012. Leatherback Tracking in South Africa. Data downloaded from OBIS-SEAMAP (http://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/439) on yyyy-mm-dd. https://doi.org/10.15468/vbgrva accessed via GBIF.org on 2024-12-15.

Description

Original provider: Islameta Group, Dept. of Biology - University of Pisa Dataset credits: Islameta Group - Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Italy Abstract: The Indian Ocean has many breeding areas for sea turtles, the southernmost ones being on the Maputaland coast of KwaZulu-Natal, where leatherback turtles nest in large numbers thanks to long-lasting protection programs. For the leatherback this is the only known nesting site in the entire western Indian Ocean. At the end of the reproductive season, leatherbacks undertake migrations towards disparate feeding areas. To contribute to their conservation, the migratory behavior of these animals has been studied by satellite telemetry for several years. This species turned out to frequent widely dispersed areas ranging from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mozambique Channel, performing large-scale wandering probably due to the leatherbacks' feeding habits on macroplankton such as jellyfish and salps. These movements have been shown to be heavily influenced by the main oceanic currents and oceanographic mesoscale features occurring in the areas crossed. Purpose: Documenting the extent of the post-nesting movements of leatherbacks nesting in South Africa and understand their behavior.

Purpose

Documenting the extent of the post-nesting movements of leatherbacks nesting in South Africa and understand their behavior.

Sampling Description

Study Extent

NA

Sampling

NA

Method steps

NA

Additional info

marine, harvested by iOBIS

Taxonomic Coverages

Scientific names are based on the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).

Dermochelys coriacea
common name: Leatherback Sea Turtle rank: species

Geographic Coverages

Indian Ocean,Agulhas Current,South Africa

Bibliographic Citations

Contacts

Paolo Luschi
originator
position: Primary contact
University of Pisa
email: pluschi@biologia.unipi.it

OBIS-SEAMAP
metadata author
Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Duke University
A328 LSRC building
Durham
27708
NC
US
email: seamap-contact@duke.edu
homepage: http://seamap.env.duke.edu

OBIS-SEAMAP
distributor
Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Duke University
A328 LSRC building
Durham
27708
NC
US
email: seamap-contact@duke.edu
homepage: http://seamap.env.duke.edu

Paolo Luschi
owner
position: Primary contact
University of Pisa
email: pluschi@biologia.unipi.it

Paolo Luschi
administrative point of contact
position: Primary contact
University of Pisa
email: pluschi@biologia.unipi.it