High incidence of sea turtle stranding in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean
Maurício Cantor, André S. Barreto, Renata Maria Taufer, Bruno Giffoni, Pedro Volkmer de Castilho, Andréa Maranho, Carla Beatriz, Christiane Kolesnikovas, Daniela Ferro de Godoy, Daniel Wagner Rogerio, Jeferson L. Dick, Karina Rejane Groch, Liana Rosa, Marta Jussara Cremer, Pâmela Emanuelly Cattani, Rodrigo del Río do Valle, Camila Domit
Abstract
Abstract Sea turtles are globally threatened due to short- and long-term exposure to anthropogenic activities. Many life-history traits make it difficult to study these species in the wild. Stranding events provide invaluable data to infer key aspects of sea turtle ecology, such as regional occurrence, health status, mortality rates, and potential threats. In this study, we investigate spatial and temporal patterns of sea turtle occurrence and mortality in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean based on a systematic, large-scale survey programme covering 1040 km of coastline during 732 d of two consecutive years. From the 12 571 animals recovered, juvenile green turtles were the most common (90.4%), but four other species were also recorded. A significant non-linear effect of time and space in the number of stranding events was observed. The most parsimonious mixed linear model further indicated that stranding events were influenced by individual (sex, size), health (body condition, pathologies, decomposition), and oceanographic factors (chlorophyll-a, sea surface temperature, salinity, wave height). More than simply describing the spatiotemporal occurrence and aspects of sea turtles’ life history in an otherwise understudied area, this intensive field study provides evidence for relatively high mortality rates—an essential baseline information for guiding conservation efforts.