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MEPS 293:263-271 (2005)
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Abstract
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Cold-blooded divers: temperature-dependent dive performance in the wild hawksbill turtle Eretmochelys imbricata
Sandra Storch1,*, Rory P. Wilson1, Zandy-Marie Hillis-Starr2, Dieter Adelung1
1Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften, Experimentelle Ökologie, Düsternbrooker Weg 20, 24105 Kiel, Germany
2National Park Service, Buck Island Reef National Monument, Christiansted, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands
00820, USA
*Email: sstorch@ifm.uni-kiel.de
ABSTRACT: Sea turtles are diving ectotherms that are influenced by the temperature of the ambient water, although swimming activity can temper this influence via increased body temperatures enhanced by the thermal inertia of these large animals. We
successfully equipped 3 nesting hawksbill turtles Eretmochelys imbricata with time–depth recorders (TDRs) to monitor water temperature and dive depth over the duration of the re-migration interval between 2 successive nesting seasons. Data
sets for up to 22 mo were obtained, showing fluctuations in water temperature over the seasons. Nocturnal dive behaviour of the turtles at their foraging grounds revealed an increase in dive duration with decreasing water temperatures in winter. A model
is provided to estimate dive duration for the range of temperatures experienced by this species in the wild. The data on vertical velocity during ascent and descent phases as a parameter for activity failed to show thermal dependence. It is concluded that
changes in water temperature have an effect on the behavioural ecology of Hawksbill Turtles.
KEY WORDS: Hawksbill turtle · Eretmochelys imbricata · Water temperature · Dive behaviour · Dive duration · Thermal dependence · Q10
Full text in pdf format
Published in MEPS Vol.
293
(2005) on June 2
Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599.
Copyright © Inter-Research, Oldendorf/Luhe, 2005
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