Manral Darshika, Bos Ilse, de Boer Mark, van Sebille Erik
Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, Utrecht University, Utrecht, 3584 CC, The Netherlands.
Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, 3584 CC, The Netherlands.
Open Res Eur. 2024 Oct 25;4:41. doi: 10.12688/openreseurope.16913.2. eCollection 2024.
Every few years, juvenile Kemp's ridley turtles ( ) are stranded on the Dutch coasts. The main population distribution of this critically endangered species primarily inhabits the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the United States. This study focuses on five reports from the Netherlands between 2007 and 2022, where juvenile turtles were reported to strand alive during the winter, albeit in a hypothermic state. At ambient ocean temperatures between 10°C and 13°C, Kemp's ridley turtles begin to show an inability to actively swim and remain afloat on the ocean's surface, a condition termed . Understanding their transport in cold-stunned state can help improve the rehabilitation process of stranded turtles.
Cold-stunned turtles are back-tracked as passive, virtual particles from their stranding location using Lagrangian flow modelling. This study investigates when and where these juvenile turtles cross the threshold temperatures between 10° C and 14° C before stranding by tracking the temperature along the trajectories.
As expected, the simulations show the transport of the cold-stunned turtles via the English Channel. More surprisingly, the analysis suggests they likely experience cold-stunning in the southern North Sea region and encounter temperatures below 10°C for only a few days to up to three weeks, and below 12°C for up to a month before stranding.
The estimate of cold-stunned drift duration of the turtles provides additional knowledge about their health status at the time of stranding. Adherence to rehabilitation protocols for Kemp's ridley and post-release monitoring are recommended to improve their long-term survival.
每隔几年，肯普氏丽龟幼龟就会在荷兰海岸搁浅。这种极度濒危物种的主要种群分布主要栖息于墨西哥湾和美国东海岸。本研究聚焦于2007年至2022年荷兰的五份报告，其中报告称幼龟在冬季被发现活着搁浅，尽管处于体温过低的状态。在海洋环境温度为10°C至13°C时，肯普氏丽龟开始表现出无法主动游泳并漂浮在海洋表面的情况，这种情况被称为[此处原文缺失该术语英文]。了解它们在冷僵状态下的洄游情况有助于改善搁浅海龟的康复过程。
利用拉格朗日流模型将冷僵海龟作为被动虚拟粒子从搁浅地点进行回溯追踪。本研究通过沿轨迹追踪温度，调查这些幼龟在搁浅前何时何地越过10°C至14°C的临界温度。
正如预期的那样，模拟显示冷僵海龟通过英吉利海峡洄游。更令人惊讶的是，分析表明它们可能在北海南部地区经历冷僵，在搁浅前遇到低于10°C的温度仅几天至三周，遇到低于12°C的温度长达一个月。
对海龟冷僵漂流持续时间的估计提供了关于它们搁浅时健康状况的更多信息。建议遵守肯普氏丽龟的康复方案和放归后监测，以提高它们的长期存活率。
