MATOS - Mid-Atlantic Acoustic Telemetry Observation System

Project Title: Passive tracking of sea turtles to determine site fidelity, habitat preference, and emigration timing

MATOS Project Code: CORES

Data Type: Data

Project Duration: June 2017 - on-going

Project Description: Incidental capture of sea turtles in certain fishing gear can have negative impacts to sea turtle populations, and time-area restrictions have been implemented to mitigate these captures. However, to make these restrictions most effective, knowledge of a sea turtle’s habitat preference, site fidelity, and spatial and temporal use of that habitat needs to be determined. Acoustic telemetry is a useful means of acquiring such data.

Objectives:

Determine overlap of the 3 species' use of habitat
Determine loggerhead, green, and Kemp's ridley timing of emigration from Core Sound, NC
Determine loggerhead, green, and Kemp's ridley site fidelity in Core Sound, NC
Determine loggerhead, green and Kemp's ridley habitat preference in Core Sound, NC

Principal Investigator:	Joann Braun McNeil (NOAA NMFS)
Email:	joanne.b.mcneill@noaa.gov

Collaborators:

Jamie Clark (NMFS)
Dr. Larisa Avens (NMFS)

Participating Organizations:

NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service

Core Sound NC sea turtle survey