Tracking of green turtles Chelonia mydas in the Andaman sea using platform transmitter terminals

Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong; Supot Chantrapornsyl; Sakamoto, Wataru. Graduate School of Agriculture; Arai, Nobuaki. Graduate School of Informatics

Tracking of green turtles Chelonia mydas in the Andaman sea using platform transmitter terminals

2002

Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong(Phuket Marine Biological Center, Phuket (Thailand)) | Supot Chantrapornsyl(Phuket Marine Biological Center, Phuket (Thailand)) | Sakamoto, Wataru(Kyoto University (Japan). Graduate School of Agriculture) | Arai, Nobuaki(Kyoto University (Japan). Graduate School of Informatics)

Three models of Platform Transmitter Terminals (PTTs) were attached to four green turtles (Chelonia mydas) from the Andaman Sea in 1995 and 2000. After release from Phuket and Similan Islands, each turtle revealed its unique migrating route. Two turtles (the -month old and the subadult female reared in captivit for 6 years) went to the southwest coast of Thailand while the third post-nesting one went to northwestern coast. The fourth post-nesting turtle went to Andaman Islands, India. The destinations of these turtles were identified as sea grass habitats. The duration of PTTs signals was 3-32 days. During cruising and foraging, the adult turtles swam 18-66 and 2-12 km/day, respectively. The fourth turtle spent 9 +- 2 percent on the sea surface each day. The circadian surface time was highest after sunset and decreased exponentially afterwards. This study revealed that the post-nesting turtles migrated to several feeding grounds. Collaboration among countries within the region is required to promote the survival of sea turtles in this region.

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