Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States of America.
Hatteras Island Ocean Center, Hatteras, NC, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2022 Oct 26;17(10):e0275088. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0275088. eCollection 2022.
Current understanding of sea turtle nesting, hatching, and emergence events has been largely limited to observable events on the surface of the sand, though recent approaches using audio or visual equipment have allowed scientists to better understand some underground nest phenomena. We used a technology-based approach to define motion-related Caretta caretta hatching and emergence nest events. We describe a novel low-cost, accelerometer-based system called TurtleSense that can detect movement and temperature within sea turtle nests remotely. TurtleSense is successfully able to specifically detect motion within sea turtle nests over the entire course of incubation. This system allows for the identification of infertile nests and the detection of four predictable sequential developmental activity patterns in viable nests, including a hatch and posthatch period, the timing of which can be used to tightly predict hatchling emergence events almost to the day. TurtleSense provides a much better understanding about what is happening in the nest before emergence and allows for the generation of a theory of the mechanism that triggers mass emergence. Our results suggest that motion plays a large role in hatchling communication and that the timing of emergence events may be related to the cessation of movement within the nest. Current management of sea turtle nesting events is primarily driven by counting the number of days since the nest was laid, with further safeguards placed at the nest upon subsequent visual observation of depression or emergence events. Use of TurtleSense technology can impact nest management and conservation efforts, allowing organizations to use this motion data to more tightly predict emergence dates for sea turtle hatchlings and to use viability data to inform nest management decisions.
目前，人们对海龟筑巢、孵化和出壳事件的了解主要局限于沙滩表面的可观察事件，尽管最近采用音频或视觉设备的方法使科学家能够更好地了解一些地下巢穴现象。我们使用基于技术的方法来定义与运动相关的海龟孵化和出壳巢事件。我们描述了一种新颖的低成本、基于加速度计的系统，称为 TurtleSense，它可以远程检测海龟巢内的运动和温度。TurtleSense 能够成功地在整个孵化过程中专门检测海龟巢内的运动。该系统可用于识别不育巢，并检测到四个可预测的、与发育相关的活动模式，包括孵化和出壳期，其时间可以用来精确预测到几乎到天的幼龟出壳事件。TurtleSense 提供了对出壳前巢内发生情况的更好理解，并为触发大规模出壳的机制理论提供了依据。我们的研究结果表明，运动在幼龟的交流中起着重要作用，并且出壳事件的时间可能与巢内的运动停止有关。目前，海龟筑巢事件的管理主要是通过计算巢筑造以来的天数来驱动的，在随后对巢穴的视觉观察到凹陷或出壳事件时，会在巢穴上进一步设置保护措施。TurtleSense 技术的使用可以影响巢穴管理和保护工作，使组织能够利用这些运动数据更紧密地预测海龟幼龟的出壳日期，并利用生存能力数据为巢穴管理决策提供信息。
