Fewer than 1,000 leatherback sea turtles remain in the Eastern Pacific, nesting along the coastline that runs from Mexico to Ecuador.
Scientists have previously fitted tracking devices to leatherbacks on other beaches across Latin America and from bycatch near Ecuador. However, they recently tagged the first nesting leatherback in Ecuador, the southern limit of the species’ nesting range.
Scientists named the turtle Lucero, “morning star” in Spanish, and estimated her age at 25-40 years. They plan to gather data on her migration and feeding patterns, which should help inform conservation policies for the critically endangered subpopulation. (Globally, the species, Dermochelys coriacea, is listed as vulnerable.)
Researchers from Ecuador-based Fundacion Reina Laud were at sea when they first spotted Lucero heading toward a remote stretch of beach to nest. They alerted Callie Veelenturf, a marine conservation biologist and founder of the U.S.-based Leatherback Project.
The team didn’t know where Lucero would emerge, so they stationed people the length of the beach with radios to watch out for her, according to Veelenturf.
“It was really quite an adventure because we just spent multiple nights out on the beach waiting for her,” she told Mongabay in a video call.
When sea turtles lay eggs, they enter a trance-like state in which they don’t seem to notice activity around them, Veelenturf said.
That’s when the team attached a satellite tag to the top of Lucero’s shell. Now, each time she surfaces to breathe, the tag pings a satellite and transmits information about her movements.
A female leatherback sea turtle returning to the ocean after laying her eggs, tagged with a satellite transmitter on Playa Pajonal, Ecuador. All photos taken with red light only under Ministry of the Environment and Energy permits. Photo by Will Lucero
Leatherbacks can be found across most of the world’s oceans, but the eastern Pacific subpopulation has declined by roughly 98% over the last several decades. One of their biggest threats is getting caught in fishing nets as bycatch, which can be deadly for turtles and expensive for fishers, whose nets get damaged in these entanglements.
By tagging Lucero, the researchers want to learn where she travels, when, and how deep she dives. With that information, they can better advise fishers on how to avoid areas frequented by sea turtles.
“We wanted to understand how the habitat use and the fishing grounds use is overlapping,” Veelenturf said.
She added that fishers have another practical motivation for helping the 900-kilogram (2,000-pound) turtles: “They can eat their weight in jellyfish every single day, and jellyfish consume juvenile fish and fish larvae. So when you have a healthy leatherback population, [it] supports healthy fish stocks and fishing communities in turn.”
Since laying her eggs, Lucero has migrated south to coastal Peru, her tracker shows. The tag will likely stay attached for a year or two, though Veelenturf said she hopes it lasts long enough to trace Lucero’s migration route and foraging grounds.
“Every day I check it and hold my breath and wait to see the transmitting signal,” she said.
This article was originally published on Mongabay.
Header image: Callie Veelenturf and Kerly Briones with Lucero on Playa Pajonal, Ecuador. Photo by Nikki Riddy.
