First Record on Loggerhead Nest in Gökçeada, Türkiye in Northern Aegean

Year 2023, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, 171 - 173, 31.12.2023

Emre Sandık , Pınar Dermancı , Bektaş Sönmez , Şükran Yalçın Özdilek

https://doi.org/10.31594/commagene.1383679

Cited By: 1

Abstract

This study presents the first report of a loggerhead turtle nest in the northern latitudes in the Aegean Sea of Türkiye, which was found on the Gökçeada Island of Çanakkale Province, Turkey. The nest contains a total of 129 eggs, 103 of which produced hatchlings and 100 of these hatchlings reached to the sea safely. This sporadic record may be a result of mechanisms developed to overcome the limitations of philopatry and increase their ability to adapt to the predicted global climate change.

Keywords

Caretta caretta, North Aegean Sea, Gökçeada Island, sporadic nesting

Thanks

We express our gratitude to Alkan Öztekin for notifying the Sea Turtle Research and Application Center at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University (COMU DEKUM) about the discovery of a single hatchling on the shore.

Kuzey Ege Gökçeada'da İribaşlı Deniz Kaplumbağası Yuvasına İlişkin İlk Kayıt

Abstract

Bu çalışma, Türkiye'nin Ege Denizi'nin kuzey enlemlerinde, Çanakkale ilinin Gökçeada Adası'nda bulunan bir Caretta caretta yuvasının ilk raporunu sunmaktadır. Yuvada toplam 129 yumurta bulunmuş; bunlardan 103'ünden yavru çıkmış ve bu yavrulardan 100'ü güvenli bir şekilde denize ulaşmıştır. Bu düzensiz kayıt, filopatri sınırlamalarının üstesinden gelmek ve öngörülen küresel iklim değişikliğine uyum sağlama yeteneklerini artırmak için geliştirilen mekanizmaların bir sonucu olabilir.

Keywords

Caretta caretta, Kuzey Ege Denizi, Gökçeada, düzensiz yuvalama

References

• Akdeniz, B., Yalçın Özdilek, Ş., Okur, E., & Gürsoy, S. (2012). Assessment of Çanakkale coasts as sea turtle (Caretta caretta and Chelonia mydas) habitat. Journal of Anatolian Nature. Science, 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
• 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. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-19887-w
• Casale, P. (2015). Caretta caretta (Mediterranean subpopulation). The IUCN red list of threatened species 2015: e.T83644804A83646294.
• Casale, P., & Tucker, A. D. (2015). Caretta caretta. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e. T3897A83157651.
• Casale, P., Broderick, A. C., Camiñas, J. A., Cardona, L., Carreras, C., Demetropoulos, A., ... & Türkozan, O. (2018). Mediterranean Sea turtles: current knowledge and priorities for conservation and research. Endangered species research, 36, 229-267. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00901
• 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. MACART press, 250pp. Turkey
• Hochscheid, S., Maffucci, F., Abella, E., Bradai, M. N., Camedda, A., Carreras, C., ... & Tomás, J. (2022). Nesting range expansion of loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean: Phenology, spatial distribution, and conservation implications. Global Ecology and Conservation, 38, e02194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02194
• Margaritoulis, D., Argano, R., Baran, I., Bentivegna, F., Bradai, M. N., Camiñas, J. A., ... & Lazar, B. (2003). Loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean: present knowledge and conservation perspectives. In: Bolten AB & Witherington BE (eds). Loggerhead Sea Turtles. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, USA, 175-198.
• Pike, D. A. (2013). Forecasting range expansion into ecological traps: Climate‐mediated shifts in sea turtle nesting beaches and human development. Global Change Biology, 19(10), 3082-3092. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12282
• 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. Ulusal Deniz Kaplumbağası Sempozyumu, Kuşadası, Aydın, Turkey. pp: 41
• Tomillo, P. S., Tomás, J., Marco, A., Panagopoulou, A., & Tavecchia, G. (2022). Environmental changes in the Mediterranean Sea could facilitate the western expansion of loggerhead turtles. Marine Ecology Progress Series, SHIFTav1. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14149
• 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.
• Whitmore, C.P, & Dutton, P.H. (1985). Infertility, embryonic mortality and nest site selection in leatherback and green sea turtles in Suriname. Biological Conservation, 34:251–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3207(85)90095-3
• Yalçın Özdilek, Ş. , Kırbeci, S. , Yalçın, S. , Altın, A. , Uzatıcı, A. , Tosunoğlu, M. , Ayaz, A. , Öztekin, A. & Sönmez, B. (2020). The first record of loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) nesting on the northernmost Aegean coast, Turkey. Natural and Engineering Sciences, 5 (3) , 198-203. https://doi.org/10.28978/nesciences.833003
• Yalçın Özdilek, Ş., Sert M., Perinçek F., Ataç F., Toprak H., Barın E. (2018a). 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.
• Yalçın Özdilek, Ş., Sönmez, B., Sert M. (2018b). Stranded sea turtle records between 2010 and 2017 in northern Aegean and Sea of Marmara. Regional Studies in Marine Science 24: 17–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2018.07.002