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The physiological ecology of leatherback turtles

This project was conducted 2003 by Andy Myers as part of his NERC funded studentship. It was done with close collaboration with a local NGO in Grenada, Ocean Spirits, as part of his NERC funded studentship from the University of Wales Swansea.
There were 3 central themes to this project

The nesting ecology of leatherbacks in the Caribbean, involving measurements of nest temperature, hatchling success and nest placement
The post-nesting movements, determined by satellite tracking
Inter-nesting diving behaviour.

When studying diving behaviour we used a number of different types of data loggers. They were attached after the turtle had completed nesting and were removed when that individual returned to nest (typically an interval of 10 days or so). In order to record dive profiles we have used time-depth recorders, these loggers are capable of operating down to 1000m and can record the full behavioural repertoire of deep diving in leatherback turtles.

Images below shows a Star-Oddi TDR ready for deployment by Ph.D student Andy Myers (left), and at deployment (right).

Data-loggers are attached to either a flexible harness (used when several types of instrument are simultaneously deployed) or to a metal tag on a rear flipper.

View a video clip from an attachment: Video mpg (4,8 Mb)

Loggers are pre-programmed to record throughout the period of interest. The example data-sets below show two complete internesting records (above) and more detailed examples of deep diving (below left) and surface occupation (below right).

During the 2003 field season, over 150 days of internesting diving behaviour was recorded for >10 individuals and a detailed analysis of these data-sets is currently underway.