Argentinian coastal waters: A temperate habitat for three species of threatened sea turtles

Abstract

Three out of the five threatened species of sea turtle occurring in the SW Atlantic Ocean are regularly found in the coastal waters of Argentina: green (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) turtles. From 1995 to 2008, fishery and beach surveys were carried out along 2800 km coastline and reports from the public were gathered. Incidental capture in artisanal fisheries and strandings suggest that an important concentration of these species occurs in the estuarine, highly productive areas of Samborombón Bay (35°30′S–36°30′S) and El Rincón (39°S–41°S), although green and loggerhead turtles were also recorded as far south as northern Patagonian waters (42°35′S–64°17′W). Depending on the species, different age classes use these temperate areas probably as foraging grounds: small juvenile green turtles, juvenile to adult loggerheads and adult leatherbacks. All three species are mainly captured in small-scale, gillnet fisheries. This information provides an essential background to conduct further studies and propose mitigation plans to reduce sea turtle mortality in Argentina. Global conservation strategies will also benefit from including temperate environments of the SW Atlantic Ocean as regular habitats in the life history of threatened turtles.

Keywords:

• Bycatch
• Caretta caretta
• Chelonia mydas
• Dermochelys coriacea
• SW Atlantic Ocean

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the artisanal fishermen of Argentina, park rangers of Buenos Aires province (OPDS) and volunteers of Aquamarina and RNUM ‘Bahía Blanca, Bahía Falsa and Bahía Verde’ for helping during surveys. Thanks to the wildlife agencies of Buenos Aires, Río Negro and Chubut provinces and to the National Wildlife Agency of Argentina for their support to our research. We are also grateful to Paulo Barata for his valuable comments about the manuscript and Marcela Uhart, Pablo Bordino, Bill Scott and the Oak Foundation–Duke Marine Laboratory for their support. This study was mainly funded by the following grants to DA: Small grant, Field Veterinary Program of Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and National Fish Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) (no. 2006-0091-006); the Sea Turtle Program of Aquamarina, Fundación Mundo Marino, Asociación Cooperadora RNUM ‘Bahía Blanca, Bahía Falsa y Bahía Verde’, Proyecto ECOFAM, Fundación Mar del Plata Aquarium, Proyecto Peyú, Instituto de Biología Marina y Pesquera Alte. Storni, Fundación Patagonia Natural, Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina, Acuario del Jardín Zoológico de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires; and partially funded by a grant to HM: Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) CRN 2076 which is supported by the US National Science Foundation (Grant GEO-0452325). VGC is supported by scholarships from CONICET. This is INIDEP contribution no. 1634.

Notes

Published in collaboration with the University of Bergen and the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, and the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark