The first record of loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) nesting on the northernmost Aegean coast, Turkey

Year 2020, Volume: 5 Issue: 3, 198 - 203, 27.11.2020

Şükran Yalçın Özdilek Selma Kırbeci Sevil Yalçın Aytaç Altın Ahmet Uzatıcı Murat Tosunoğlu Adnan Ayaz Alkan Öztekin Bektaş Sönmez

https://doi.org/10.28978/nesciences.833003

Cited By: 1

Abstract

This study presents the first documented evidence of a loggerhead turtle nest on the northernmost Aegean coast of Turkey which was found on the Gelibolu Peninsula of Çanakkale province, Turkey. The nest contains a total of 74 eggs; 50 of them produced hatchlings and 46 of those hatchlings reached to the sea safely. This record supports the idea that sea turtles search alternative nesting beaches as a result of climate change.

Keywords

Caretta caretta, North Aegean Sea, Çanakkale, Gelibolu Peninsula, Sporadic nesting site

References

• Akdeniz, B., Yalçın Özdilek, Ş., Okur, E., Gürsoy, S. (2012). Assessment of Çanakkale coasts as sea turtle (Caretta caretta and Chelonia mydas) habitat. J. Anatolian Nat. Sci. 3 (1), 37–45.
• Başkale, E., Sözbilen, D., Katılmış, Y., Azmaz, M., Uzuner, M., Sürücü, B., Kaska, Y. 2018. The sporadic nesting sites of loggerhead and green turtles on western Anatolian coasts. In: Proceedings of the 38th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation, p. 237.
• Casale, P. (2015).Caretta caretta (Mediterranean subpopulation). The IUCN red list of threatened species 2015: e.T83644804A83646294. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T83644804A83646294.e. Downloaded on 219 October 2020.
• Casale, P., Broderick, A.C., Camiñas, J.A., Cardona, L., Carreras, C., Demetropoulos, A., Fuller, W.J., Godley, B.J., Hochscheid, S., Kaska, Y. et al. (2018). Mediterranean sea turtles: current knowledge and priorities for conservation and research. Endanger. Species Res. 36:229–267.
• Kocabaş, S., & Acarlı, D. (2019). First observation of loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta (Linnaeus 1758) around the shipwreck used as an artificial reef in the coasts of Gokceada island, north Aegean Sea. Mar. Sci. Tech. Bull. 8(2): 36–39
• Candan, O. (2018). Impact of nest relocation on the reproductive success of Loggerhead Turtles, Caretta caretta, in the Göksu Delta, Turkey (Reptilia: Cheloniidae). Zoology in the Middle East, 64(1), 38-46. DOI: 10.1080/09397140.2017.1414978
• Carreras, C., Pascual, M., Tomás, J., Marco, A., Hochscheid, S., Castillo, J.J., Cardona, L. (2018). Sporadic nesting reveals long distance colonisation in the philopatric loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta). Scientific Reports, 8(1), 1435.
• Hochscheid S., Ciampa M., Cascone C., Capo L., Treglia G., Fusco M., Sorrentino R., Travaglini, A. (2015). Loggerhead nesting at northern latitudes in the Mediterranean sea. In: Kaska, Y., Sonmez, B., Turkecan, O., Sezgin, C. (Eds), Book of abstracts of 35th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation. MACARTpress, 250pp. Turkey).
• Mazaris, A.D., Kornaraki, E., Matsinos, Y.G., Margaritoulis, D. (2004). Modeling the effect of sea surface temperature on sea turtle nesting activities by investigating seasonal trends. Natural Resource Modelling, 17: 445-465.
• Saraçoğlu, F. (2020). Gökçeada sıcaklık ve deniz suyu sıcaklıklarının eğilim analizi. Haliç Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Dergisi, 3(1), 1-17 .
• Schofield, G., Dimadi, A., Fossette, S., Katselidis, K.A., Koutsoubas, D., Lilley, M.K., Hays, G.C. (2013). Satellite tracking large numbers of individuals to infer population level dispersal and core areas for the protection of an endangered species. Divers. Distrib. 19(7), 834–844.
• Sürücü, B., Çetinkaplan, B., İnanç, S., Taşcı, A., Kurt, G., Yavaş, A., Yavaş, M., Yavaş, Y., Ergenç, Y., Uzuner M., Türkozan, O., Kaska, Y. (2017). Deniz kaplumbağa yuvalama bölgeleri dışında yuva; Kuşadası (Aydın)’nda, iribaş deniz kaplumbağa yuvaları. V. National Sea Turtle Symposium, Kuşadası, Aydın, Turkey. pp: 41
• Türkozan, O., & Kaska, Y. (2010). Turkey. In: Casale, P., Margaritoulis, D. (Eds.), Sea Turtles in the Mediterranean: Distribution, Threats and Conservation Priorities. Gland. IUCN, Switzerland, pp. 257–294.
• Yalçın Özdilek, Ş., Sönmez, B., Sert M. (2018a). Stranded sea turtle records between 2010 and 2017 in northern Aegean and Sea of Marmara. Regional Studies in Marine Science 24:17–22
• Yalçın Özdilek, Ş., Sert M., Perinçek F., Ataç F., Toprak H., Barın E. (2018b). Trophic position of loggerhead in the food web of Northern Aegean, Gökçeada coasts. II. International Fisheries Symposium 4-8 November 2018. Girne, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.