Diving behaviour of an immature Kemp's ridley turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) from Gullivan Bay, Ten Thousand Islands, south-west Florida
Sasso, C.R.; Witzell, W.N. (2006). Diving behaviour of an immature Kemp's ridley turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) from Gullivan Bay, Ten Thousand Islands, south-west Florida. J. Mar. Biol. Ass. U.K. 86(4): 919-925. https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0025315406013877
In: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. Cambridge University Press/Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom: Cambridge. ISSN 0025-3154; e-ISSN 1469-7769, more
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| Keywords |
Behavioural responses
Diving
Temporal variations
Lepidochelys kempii Garman, 1880 [WoRMS]
ASW, USA, Florida, Ten Thousand I., Gullivan Bay [Marine Regions]
Marine/Coastal |
| Authors | | Top |
- Sasso, C.R.
- Witzell, W.N.
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| Abstract |
The authors report on the first successfully deployed time-depth recorder on an immature Kemp's ridley turtle in a coastal foraging habitat in south-west Florida. The turtle exhibited three distinct dive patterns interpreted as: post release stress (26 h) post release transition (8 h) and normal (>34 h). The normal pattern consists of short periods on the surface followed by longer periods on the bottom in 2-3 m of water which we speculate is foraging behaviour. Overall, the turtle spent 94% of the time submerged during the normal period. The turtle spent significantly more time submerged at night than during the day, suggesting the turtle was resting. Night dives were consistently longer than dawn, day or dusk dives. |
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