AIMS Geonetwork
Artificial light on water attracts turtle hatchlings during their nearshore transit, Western Australia
Examined the effect of artificial light on the nearshore trajectories of turtle hatchlings dispersing from natal beaches. Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) hatchlings were tagged with miniature acoustic transmitters and their movements tracked within an underwater array of 36 acoustic receivers placed in the nearshore zone. A total of 40 hatchlings were tracked, 20 of which were subjected to artificial light during their transit of the array. At the same time, we measured current speed and direction which were highly variable within and between experimental nights and treatments. Artificial lighting affected hatchling behaviour, with 88% of individual trajectories oriented towards the light and spending, on average, 23% more time in the 2.25ha tracking array (19.5 ± 5 mins) than under ambient light conditions (15.8 ± 5 mins). Current speed had little to no effect on the bearing (angular direction) of the hatchling tracks when artificial light was present, but under ambient conditions, it influenced the bearing of the tracks when current direction was offshore and above speeds of ~32.5 cm s-1.
This is the first experimental evidence that wild turtle hatchlings are attracted to artificial light after entering the ocean, a behaviour that is likely to subject them to greater risk of predation. The experimental protocol described in this study can be used to assess the effect of anthropogenic (light pollution, noise etc.) and natural (wave action, current, wind, moonlight) influences on the in-water movements of sea turtle hatchlings during the early phase of dispersal.
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Identification info
- Date (Revision)
- 2024-10-17T00:00:00
Publisher
Owner
- Website
- AIMS Web Site
- Website
- AIMS Web Site
- Credit
- Thums, M (Author)
- Status
- Under development
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- Temporal resolution
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P1Y0M0DT0H0M0S
- Topic category
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- Oceans
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- Description
- Ningaloo light experiment study area
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- Description
- Collective resources start and end dates
Temporal extent
- Time position
- 2014-07-05
- Time position
- 2014-07-07
- Maintenance and update frequency
- As needed
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- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Australia License
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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/au/
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- Use Limitation: All AIMS data, products and services are provided "as is" and AIMS does not warrant their fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. While AIMS has made every reasonable effort to ensure high quality of the data, products and services, to the extent permitted by law the data, products and services are provided without any warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of title, merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. AIMS make no representation or warranty that the data, products and services are accurate, complete, reliable or current. To the extent permitted by law, AIMS exclude all liability to any person arising directly or indirectly from the use of the data, products and services.
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- Attribution: Format for citation of metadata sourced from Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) in a list of reference is as follows: "Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). (2016). Artificial light on water attracts turtle hatchlings during their nearshore transit, Western Australia. https://apps.aims.gov.au/metadata/view/0503d5ff-d0f4-490d-ba6d-1c0d225b8996, accessed[date-of-access]".
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- Resource Usage:Data from this publication is available upon request from the Australian Institute of Marine Science Data Centre Manager.Security classification code: unclassifiedMetadata Usage:Access Constraint: intellectualPropertyRightsUse Constraint: intellectualPropertyRightsSecurity classification code: unclassified
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
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- Physical measurement
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- OnLine resource
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Thums M, Whiting SD, Reisser J, Pendoley KL, Pattiaratchi CB, Proietti M, Hetzel Y, Fisher R, Meekan MG (2016) Artificial light on water attracts turtle hatchlings during their near shore transit. Royal Society Open Science 3: 160142 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160142
Thums M, Whiting SD, Reisser J, Pendoley KL, Pattiaratchi CB, Proietti M, Hetzel Y, Fisher R, Meekan MG (2016) Artificial light on water attracts turtle hatchlings during their near shore transit. Royal Society Open Science 3: 160142 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160142
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- Dataset
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- As needed
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- Metadata identifier
- 0503d5ff-d0f4-490d-ba6d-1c0d225b8996
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
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- 0800 to 1640 UTC+10: Monday to Friday
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Point of truth URL of this metadata record
Point of truth URL of this metadata record
- Date info (Creation)
- 2016-04-13T00:00:00
- Date info (Revision)
- 2018-04-30T00:00:00
Metadata standard
- Title
- ISO 19115-3:2018
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