Marine Biology Commons^™

Behavior And Ecology Of Sea Turtles From Chesapeake Bay, Virginia, Richard Allan Byles

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Immature foraging sea turtles occupy Chesapeake Bay, Virginia annually from May through November. Telemetry was used to monitor the movements and behavior of loggerhead, Caretta caretta, and Kemp's ridley, Lepidochelys kempi, turtles during 1981-1985. Both species utilized the estuary for summer foraging, but exhibited habitat-preference and behavioral differences that amounted to resource partitioning between the species. Loggerheads oriented towards major river outflows and tended to move along channel sides with the tidal flow while ridleys occupied shallower foraging areas and did not range as far with the tide. Strong site tenacity was displayed by both species once foraging areas were …