Satellite-Tracking of Loggerhead Sea Turtles Indicates Repetitive Interannual Behaviors in Areas of High Scallop Fishing Activity in the Mid-Atlantic Bight

Between 2009 and 2012 seventy-two juvenile loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta were captured, tagged with satellite transmitters, and released in offshore Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) waters to assess individual behavior and fidelity to foraging grounds and migratory corridors. The MAB hosts three key access areas of the Atlantic sea scallop (Placopecten magellanicus) fishery – Hudson Canyon, Elephant Trunk, and DelMarVa – which pose a threat of turtle interactions with vessels and demersal fishing gear. Past studies suggest loggerhead behavior is dependant on environmental conditions and habitat availability.  Establishing a better understanding of their behavior is imperative for effective conservation and management. Collectively, tag data indicate that juvenile loggerheads undergo extensive seasonal migrations, moving between summer (June-September) foraging grounds (New Jersey to Maryland) and overwintering habitat (North Carolina to Florida). Preliminary analysis indicates that loggerheads show repetitive, accurate targeting of foraging areas across multiple years and similar individual latitudinal migratory paths. Out of the fifty turtles that transmitted for more than one year, forty-three displayed offshore site fidelity. Additionally, twenty-seven turtles occupied similar migratory routes post-foraging and post-overwintering. Contrary to the assumption that offshore turtle movement is unpredictable, the majority of juvenile turtles tagged offshore in this study follow distinct movement patterns.