Partnership Research of Marine Turtles:
Identifying Loggerhead Pelagic Foraging Ecology

Presentation by George H. Balazs
Golden Honu Services of Oceania
www.GeorgeHBalazs.com

North Pacific Loggerhead

Releasing Turtles for Research

PIFSC MARINE TURTLE RESEARCH

 Pelagic ecology of Chinese and Japanese

for bycatch reduction

loggerheads

Miniature satellite tags

Satellite Ocean ImagingChoshi City Boso PeninsulaKEBR

Schematic of the Kuroshio
Extension Bifurcation region (A)AVISO altimetry for March 2003

AVISO altimetry for September2003

Loggerhead track over SSH and geostrophic currents for October 2003 (A),November 2003 (B), December 2003 (C), and January 2004 (D)EOD TurtleWatch
Evan.Howell@noaa.gov

TurtleWatch: Background
Bycatch:Fishery data

Fishery/Bycatchin specific area

Turtles/Sword
assoc. fronts1
1Polovina (Seki) et al, 2001, (2002),2004, 2006

Response =MPA (closures)

Static closures,
dynamic fronts

Frontal/effort
shifts (turtles)

Desire: Method to create
turtle avoidance areas fromenvironment (SST/Chl a?)“DYNAMIC HABITAT ZONE”
Distribute daily to fishery

Post-2004: 17 loggerheads = closureThis limit reached March 2006
Prompted TurtleWatch researchFirst need to understand bycatch pattern (time/space)

TurtleWatch: Methods
Fishery
dataNon-fisherydata

Extract SST values

Interquartile range
SST (effort/bycatch)

Why SST? Complete
coverage, HL fishery
Release Dynamic MPA
ProductSST
measures

Create Dynamic MPA

Assessfisheryresponse

Incorporate
divebehavior

TurtleWatch: Loggerhead bycatch results
First quarter has >60% of all bycatch

Monthly mean Fishery and RS SST data
(180°-160°W 1994-2006)

Bycatch/18C SST(TZCF) correlated

Turtles track front,
intra/interannual
movements
Q1: Use SST habitat
proxy (MATCH)

Interactions (n)SST front/effort(bycatch) split Q2

TurtleWatch: Final product / ongoing work
12/2006: TurtleWatch released
2006 recommended
large area NO GEAR
2007 results nobycatch in NE +SST < 17.5°C
Based on lack ofinteractions changed
to band (17.5-18.5°C)

12/2007: TurtleWatch refined

Additional refinement ongoing 2012

Loggerhead dive behavior: BackgroundEvan.Howell@noaa.gov

Work to date studied 2-D(surface) behavior ofloggerheads
Here we look at 3-D (+vertical)
behavior of loggerheads
Goal: Identify dive behavior“types” and relationship tooceanography

Seasonal movement
Satellite telemetry data (n=17) from 180-150°W north of Hawaii

Turtles follow
fronts ~18-20°C
Follow front
throughout year
Coldest SST Q1
Surface patternsimilar to tagged(TurtleWatch)

Dive type results
K-means cluster analysis: 3 distinct dive types north of Hawaii

Types 1,3 deeper, longer | Type 2 shallower, shorter
Dive type 1

Dive type 2

Dive type 3

Dive depth
Depth (m)Dive duration
Time (min)Dive variability (North of Hawaii)
Seasonal variability
synced to movement offront (fishing ground)
Observed monthly
changes in divebehavior
Coldest SST Q1 =deepest/longest dives
SSTContrast to latermonths whereshorter/shallower divesLoggerhead Oceanographic Habitat
March 2008 – In-situ Temperature from NOAA Sette
July 2005 – In-situ temperature from Oshoro Maru
Q1: deep
mixed layer
Temp. front

Q3: shallow
mixed layer
Sal. front
Rule: Fishery
MUST target
below 20m

North Pacific loggerhead track data
Donald.Kobayashi@noaa.gov

2008. Kobayashi*, Polovina, Parker, Kamezaki, Cheng, Uchida, Dutton,Balazs. Pelagic habitat characterization of loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta
caretta, in the North Pacific Ocean (1997-2006): Insights from satellite tag
tracking and remotely-sensed data. Journal of Experimental Marine
Biology and Ecology 356: 96-114.
* Dr. Donald R. Kobayashi, Research Fishery Biologist in the Ecosystems and Oceanography Division at
the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, NMFS/NOAA US Department of Commerce.

Movement appears to relate tooceanography

North Pacific loggerhead movement and sea
surface temperature (SST)Taiwan by-catch tagged loggerheads

China

2011. Kobayashi*, Cheng, Parker, Polovina, Kamezaki, Balazs. Loggerhead turtle(Caretta caretta) movement off the coast of Taiwan: characterization of a hotspot
in the East China Sea and investigation of mesoscale eddies. ICES Journal ofMarine Science. 68(4): 707-718.

Several movement strategies
identified:•Pelagic entry to the“Kuroshio Extension
Bifurcation Region”.

•Coastal movement tosouthwest.

•Persistent occupancy overcontinental shelf in the EastChina Sea.

Animation of first 70 daysChina East China Sea “Hotspot”

East China Sea “Hotspot” covers ~400,000 square kilometers of ocean.
Shallow, productive, effects of rivers/currents, multinational, location of many fisheries.

The End報告完畢Polovina, Kobayashi, Ellis, Seki, & Balazs. 2000. Turtles on the edge: Movement ofloggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) along oceanic fronts in the central North Pacific,1997-1998. Fish. Oceanogr.

Polovina, Howell, Parker & Balazs. 2003. Dive-depth distribution of loggerhead(Caretta caretta) and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) sea turtles in the central
North Pacific: Might deep longline sets catch fewer turtles? Fish. Bull.
Chaloupka, Parker & Balazs. 2004. Modelling post-release mortality of loggerhead
seaturtles exposed to the Hawaii-based pelagic longline fishery. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.
Polovina, Balazs, Howell, Parker, Seki & Dutton. 2004. Forage and migration habitatof loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) sea turtles in
the central North Pacific Ocean. Fish. Oceanogr.
Polovina, Uchida, Balazs, Howell, Parker & Dutton. 2006. The Kuroshio Extension
bifurcation region: A pelagic hotpot for juvenile loggerhead sea turtles. Deep Sea
Research Pt II: Top. Studies Oceanography.
Howell, Koyabashi, Parker, Balazs, & Polovina. 2008. TurtleWatch: A tool to aid in thebycatch reduction of loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta in the Hawaii-based pelagic
longline fishery. Endang. Species Res.

Kobayashi, Polovina, Parker, Kamezaki, Cheng, Uchida, Dutton, & Balazs. 2008.
Pelagic habitat characterization of loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, in the North
Pacific Ocean (1997-2006): Insights from satellite tag tracking and remotely sensed
data. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol.
Howell, Dutton, Polovina, Bailey, Parker, & Balazs. 2010. Oceanographic influenceson the dive behavior of juvenile loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) in the North PacificOcean. Mar. Biol.
Kobayashi, Cheng, Parker, Polovina, Kamezaki & Balazs. 2011. Loggerhead turtle(Caretta caretta) movement off the coast of Taiwan: characterization of a hotspot in theEast China Sea and investigation of mesoscale eddies. ICES J. Mar. Sci.
Abecassis, Senina, Lehodey, Gaspar, Parker, Balazs & Polovina. 2013. A model ofloggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) habitat and movement in the oceanic NorthPacific. PLoS ONE.
Kobayashi, Farman, Polovina, Parker, Rice & Balazs. 2014. ''Going with the flow'' or
not: evidence of positive rheotaxis in oceanic juvenile loggerhead turtles (Carettacaretta) in the South Pacific Ocean using satellite tags and ocean circulation data.
PLoS ONE.
Parker, Balazs, Rice & Tomkeiwicz. 2014. Variability in Reception Duration of Dual
Satellite Tags on Sea Turtles Tracked in the Pacific Ocean. Micronesica.

Saito, Tomomi, Masanori Kurita, Hitoshi Okamoto, Itaru Uchida, Denise Parker, ANDGeorge Balazs. 2015. Tracking Male Loggerhead Turtle Migrations Around SouthwesternJapan Using Satellite Telemetry.Chelonian Conservation and Biology.
Briscoe, Parker, Balazs, Kurita, Saito, Okamoto, Rice, Polovina & Crowder. 2016. Active
dispersal in loggerhead sea turtles ( Caretta caretta) during the 'lost years'. Proc. R. Soc.
Christiansen, Putman, Farman, M. Parker, Rice, Polovina, Balazs & Hays. 2016. Spatial
variation in directional swimming enables juvenile sea turtles to reach and remain inproductive waters. Mar Ecol Prog Ser.
Briscoe, Parker, Bograd, Hazen, Scales, Balazs, Kurita, Saito, Okamoto, Rice, Polovina &Crowder . 2016. Multi-year tracking reveals extensive pelagic phase of juvenile loggerhead
sea turtles in the North Pacific. Movement Ecology.
Briscoe, Parker, Balazs, Kurita, Saito Okamoto, Rice, Polovina & Crowder. 2016. Active
dispersal in loggerhead sea turtles ( Caretta caretta) during the 'lost years'. Proc. R. Soc.
Saito, Kurita, Okamoto, Kakizoe, Parker, Briscoe, Rice, Polovina & Balazs. 2018. Satellite
tracking immature loggerhead turtles in temperate and subarctic ocean habitats around theSea of Japan. Micronesica.
Oki, Hamabata, Arata, Parker, Ng & Balazs. 2019. Inferred adult foraging grounds of twomarine turtle species nesting at Amamu-Oshima, Japan. CCB.

Releasing Turtles for Research

海龟放流的研究机会

Sea Life Park Hawaii

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