Reproductive Longevity of the Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Caretta caretta, in Espírito Santo, Brazil

• Published in: Marine turtle newsletter no. 157; pp. 10 - 12
• Main Authors: Barreto, J, Thomé, J C, Baptistotte, C, Rieth, D, Marcovaldi, M Â, Marcovaldi, G G D, Bellini, C, Scalfoni, J T, Filgueiras, H, Vila-Verde, L, Cabral, L, Marcondes, A C, Almeida, A P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Swansea Seaturtle.org 01.04.2019
• Subjects: Animal reproduction; Aquatic reptiles; Beaches; Caretta caretta; Corrosion; Eretmochelys imbricata; Females; Marine biology; Nesting; Reptiles & amphibians; Tagging; Tags; Trends; Turtles; Wildlife conservation; Greece; Rio de Janeiro Brazil; United States > US; Atlantic Ocean; Kentucky; Brazil; Gulf of Mexico; Florida
• ISSN: 0839-7708; 0839-7708

The nightly monitoring effort was irregular for the first two decades of the project, reflecting changes in logistical conditions over the years. Since the 2005/2006 season, nighttime monitoring effort, including tagging of nesting females, was standardized, occurring daily between October and January. [...]even with known tag loss, such as with BR 9605, BR 276 (Table 1), or the need for tag substitution, such as with BR 279, BR 3087, BR 31657 (Table 1), we were able to document long-term reproductive activity by individual loggerhead females. [...]2003 the flipper tags used by TAMAR were made exclusively from Monel alloy, which has been reported to be more susceptible to corrosion and loss than other types of tags, including Inconel (Bellini et al. 2001; Limpus 1992; Troeng et al. 2007). Overall, these three cases of nesting loggerheads with long reproductive histories highlight the value of long-term tagrecapture studies that use two tags per turtle, and a thorough evaluation of each individual regarding the need for readjustment or replacement of tags.