1Karumbé,

G. Vélez-Rubio1,2, A. Estrades1, A. Fallabrino1, J. Tomás2

Avda. Gral Rivera 3245, CP 11600, Montevideo, Uruguay. (gabriela.velez@uv.es)
2Instituto Cavanilles, Universidad de Valencia Apdo. 22085, E-46071 Valencia, ESPAÑA.

INTRODUCTION A

•  Uruguayan continental waters seem to meet and important role as feeding, development and a station
within the migratory corridor of juveniles and adults of five species of marine turtles in the South western
Atlantic ocean (SWA) (Domingo et al. 2006).

•  Five marine turtle species are cited for Uruguayan waters: Chelonia mydas (Green turtle), Caretta
caretta (Loggerhead turtle), Dermochelys coriacea (Leatherback turtle, Lepidochelys olivacea (Olive
Ridley)(Achaval 2001) and Eretmochelys coriacea (Hawksbill turtle) (Estrades et al. 2007).

•  Stranding data from 12 years (1999-2010), collected by the NGO Karumbé along the Uruguayan coast,
provide a good approach to get information about distribution, seasonality, threats and biology of
marine turtles in the area. B

MATERIAL AND METHODS

•  Based on characteristics of water masses,  we divided the study area in 3 zones: [Zone 1] Inner estuarine area (350
Km),   from Nueva Palmira to Montevideo, [Zone 2] Outer estuarine area (130 Km) from Montevideo to Punta del
Este and [Zone 3] Atlantic Ocean influence area (230 Km) from Punta del Este to Barra del Chuy.

•  We include two sources of data: [1] Network records: marine turtle stranding data collected between 1999 and
2010 in Uruguay by a stranding network, “Red de Rescate y Varamientos de Tortugas Marinas”, ran by Karumbé.
[2] Beach surveys records: These surveys were carried out once a week by foot, from Barra del Chuy to Punta del
Diablo (Rocha department, Zone 3). Source 2 data were used only for size and threats studies.
C

•  To carry out spatio-temporal analysis we divided the coastline in 10 km sectors. Stranding density (number of
marine turtles stranded per sector) maps were created for the three main species for all the study period (Figure 1).

•  For seasonality study we also created frequency histograms of monthly appearance per specie and zone (Figures
2).
 

Green Loggerhead Leatherback

Figure 1: Stranding density (number of marine turtles stranded per 10 Km sector) maps from the network records (n= 886 turtles, period:
1999-2010. A: Chelonia mydas (Cm,●), B: Caretta caretta (Cc,▲), C : Dermochelys coriacea (Dc,■). Arrows in C indicate de stranding of
the other two species, Eretmochelys imbricata (three white arrows) and Lepidochelys olivacea (black arrow). Stars indicate main fishermen
settlements and ports. Scale: 1:3500000. Note the different ranges for D. coriacea according to its respective densities recorded.

RESULTS

•  A total of 1107 (n= 886 source of data 1 and n= 221 source of data2) stranded turtles were registered
recorded. The species recorded were the green turtle (n= 643, 58.08%), the loggerhead (n= 329, 29.72%) ,
the leatherback (n= 131, 11.83%), 3 hawksbills (0.27%) and one olive ridley (0.09%).

•  Mainly we recorded strandings in zone 2 and 3. Zone 1 is really scarce in strandings of all the species.
 
•  For the three main species we found significant differences in monthly patterns between zone 2 and 3
(Mann-Whitney U= 46789.5; P<0.0001), with higher frequencies of stranding in the zone 3 occurring during
the warmest months (November-April). However, in zone 2 higher frequencies were detected during
austral fall (March-June) (Figure 2). 

•  Green turtles were recorded all year in zones 2 and 3. The loggerhead seems to be present during the
whole warm season, but it looks quite scarce during the coldest months (Jul-Oct). Leatherback records
exhibited high variability among years, with strandings peaks appearing in January in zone 3 and in April
and May in zone 2. The main difference between this specie and the hard-shell turtles is that leatherbacks
exhibit more limited seasonalities, i.e., concentrated at specific times or during short periods of the year.
Figure 2: Monthly distribution of turtle records for green (Chelonia mydas, black bars), loggerhead (Caretta caretta, white bars) and
leatherbacks (Dermochelys coriacea, grey bars); per zone, Outer estuarine area (Zone 2) and Atlantic Ocean influence area (Zone 3). 
  •  For green turtles, all individuals were of juvenile size (mean ± SD curved carapace length, notch to tip
. [CCLn-t]= 41.5 ± 7.5 cm; range: 25.7 to 94.5, n= 538), except one of CCLn-t= 94.5 cm). For loggerhead
CONCLUSIONS turtles, most were of late juvenile size and adults (CCL= 72.6 ± 15.3 cm; range: 10.3 to 114.6; n= 203).
Leatherback turtles were large juveniles or adults (CCL= 139.4 ± 11.1 cm; range 110.5 to 160.0; n= 53; Figure
•  Data collected suggest that, despite a clear seasonality, some marine turtles, most under 3).
development, stay all year round in the Uruguayan coastal waters.

•  For green turtles the coastal waters of Uruguay could be a foraging and developmental area
for small juveniles after their oceanic stage as part of a large foraging and developmental
area with Ubatuba (Brazil, Gallo et al. 2006) and northern Argentina (González Carman et al.
2011) in the SW Atlantic Ocean.

•  For loggerhead turtles the information support the proposed idea by Caraccio et al. (2008) of
the existence of a migratory corridor in coastal waters, used by large juveniles and adults
individuals move on the continental shelf from Brazilian beaches towards higher latitudes like
Uruguay and surrounding areas.

•  For leatherbacks stranding data seem to corroborate the feeding seasonal movements in
and out of the Rio de la Plata estuary proposed by López-Mendilaharsu et al. (2009).

Figure 3: Curved carapace length (CCLn-t) of all measured turtles: green, Chelonia mydas (n= 538, black bars); loggerhead, Caretta caretta
LITERATURED CITED (n= 203, white bars); leatherback, Dermochelys coriacea (n= 53, grey bars). Dotted lines: minimum carapace length for South Western Atlantic
•  Baptistotte C et al. (2003) Reproductive biology and Conservation Status of the Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta) in Espírito Santo State, Brazil. nesting rookeries; 101 cm for green turtle (Moreira et al. 1995), 83 cm for loggerhead (Baptistotte et al. 2003) and 139 cm for leatherback
Chelonian Conservation and Biology, 4(3): 523-529. (Thomé et al. 2007)
•  Caraccio MN et al. (2008) Las aguas del Atlántico sudoccidental y su importancia en el ciclo de vida de la tortuga cabezona (Caretta caretta):
evidencias a través del análisis del ADNmt. Collect. Vol. Sci. Pap. ICCAT, 62 (6): 1831-1837. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  
•  Gallo BMG et al. (2006) Sea turtle conservation in Ubatuba, southeastern Brazil, a feeding area with incidental capture in Coastal Fisheries. Chelonian GV-R wish to thank the International Sea turtle Symposium, Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, U.S. Fish and
Conservation and Biology, 5(1): 93-101.
Wildlife Service, and U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service for support the students for give her the opportunity to participate in this
•  González Carman V, et al. (2011) Argentinian coastal waters: A temperate habitat for three species of threatened sea turtles. Marine Biology Research
7:500-508. symposium. Authors are really grateful to all Karumbé members and volunteers who once formed part of the NGO. Thanks also to
•  Domingo A et al. (2006) El impacto generado por las pesquerías en las tortugas marinas en el Océano Atlántico sud occidental. San José: WWF all the persons (fishermen, naval prefecture, life guard service, rangers, civil organizations, citizens and tourist) who collaborated
Programa Marino para Latinoamérica y el Caribe. 72 pages. in the stranding network.  
•  López-Mendilaharsu M et al. (2009) Insights on leatherback turtle movements and high use areas in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean. J Exp Mar Biol Eco 378: Authors wish to thank to the Marine Zoology Unit of
31–39. the University of Valencia in the last part of this work.
•  Moreira LC et al. (1995) Ocurrence of Chelonia mydas on the Island of Trindade, Brazil. Marine Turtle Newsletter 70: 2.
JT is supported by projects CGL2011-30413 of the
•  Thomé JCA et al. (2007) Nesting biology and conservation of the leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil,
1988-1989 to 2003-2004. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 6:15-27 .
Spanish Ministry of Economy and competitiveness,
and UV-INV-AE11-42960 of the University of Valencia.