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Marine Turtle Newsletter 119:12-13, © 2008
A Stranded Leatherback Sea Turtle in the Northeastern Mediterranean, Hatay, Turkey
Bektaş Sönmez1, Dennis Sammy2, Şükran Yalçın-Özdilek3, Özgür Ahmet Gönenler1, Ufuk Açıkbaş1, Yaşar Ergün4 & Yakup Kaska5
1Department of Biology, Mustafa Kemal University, Tayfur Sökmen Campus, 31024 Antakya Hatay Turkey (E-mail: bektass@gmail.com);
2Nature Seekers, Toco Road, Matura, Trinidad and Tobago (E-mail: dennispsammy@gmail.com);
3Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Education, Anafartalar Campus, 17100 Çanakkale Turkey (E-mail: yalcin.ozdilek@gmail.com);
4Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Mustafa Kemal University, Tayfur Sökmen Campus, 31024 Antakya Hatay Turkey (Email: yasarergun@yahoo.com);
5Department of Biology, Pamukkale University, Kınıklı Campus, Denizli Turkey (E-mail: caretta@pamukkale.edu.tr)
Three species of sea turtle, the loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta, green turtle Chelonia mydas and leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea, regularly occur in the Mediterranean (Margaritoulis 2001; Rees et al. 2004). In the eastern Mediterranean, loggerhead and green turtles nest along the coasts of Greece, Northern Cyprus and Turkey (Kasparek et al. 2001; Margaritoulis et al. 2003). However there are no confirmed records of nesting by leatherbacks in Mediterranean so individuals observed in this region are assumed to originate from Atlantic Ocean colonies (Geldiay et al. 1982; Groombridge 1990; Margaritoulis 2001). Here we report on a stranded leatherback found in the Mediterranean coast of Turkey that had previously nested in Trinidad.
Figure 1. Approximate straightline distance between Matura Beach where this turtle was tagged while nesting and recovery site in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, on the coast of Turkey.
On June 6, 2006, a leatherback turtle was found on the beach in Iskenderun Bay, Northeast Mediterranean, Turkey (36.80° N and 36.18° E, see Fig. 1). The turtle had 2 monel flipper tags attached to its rear flippers (tag numbers 28192, 24752). The curved carapace length (CCL) from nuchal notch to posterior tip measured 158cm and straight carapace length was 150cm, however due to the advanced state of decomposition these sizes may be inaccurate. Curved (CCW) was 99cm and straight carapace width was 92cm. Each front flipper measured 95cm in length measured along the leading edge. Holes which resembled bullet wounds were found in the left side of the neck and under the left eye, though we did not dissect the wounds to confirm the presence of bullet fragments.
This turtle was originally tagged while nesting at Matura Beach, Trinidad (approximate location: 10.646° N, 61.034° W) on May 5, 2005, and subsequently nested again on 5 July 2005. CCL was reported as 157cm, CCW at 113cm.
This is not the first record of a sample of D. coriacea in the most eastern part of Mediterranean. Taşkavak et al. (1998) reported a stranded leatherback, which was smaller than this specimen, from Edremit Bay, Turkey, Rees et al. (2004) reported a live leatherback turtle during a survey in the coast of Syria in the East Mediterranean, and Levy et al. (2005) reported a leatherback incidentally captured in a trawler just off the coast of Israel. The presence of the Trinidad turtle as well as other records from the Eastern Mediterranean might indicate that the region is a foraging area for Atlantic leatherbacks. Leatherbacks from Trinidad nesting colonies have been shown to move across the Atlantic to foraging areas in the Eastern Atlantic (Eckert 2006) and this tag record shows that some can move into the Eastern Mediterranean,
Acknowledgements: We thank local residents and the Hatay Directorate of Environment and Forestry, Dörtyol District of Agriculture, Samandağ Governor, Samandağ Environmental Protection and Tourism Foundation for contributions that facilitated our sampling of this leatherback.
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MARGARITOULIS D., R. ARGANO, I. BARAN, F. BENTIVEGNA, M.N. BRADAI, J.A. CAMINAS, P. CASALE, G. DE METRIO, A. DEMETROPOULOS, G. GEROSA, B.J. GODLEY, D.A. HADDOUD, J. HOUGHTON, L. LAURENT & B. LAZAR. 2003. Loggerhead turtles in the Mediterranean Sea: present knowledge and conservation perspectives. In A.B. Bolten & B.E. Witherington (Eds). Loggerhead Sea Turtles. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. pp. 175-198.
REES, A.F., A. SAAD & M. JONY. 2004. First record of a leatherback turtle in Syria, Marine Turtle Newsletter 106:13.
TAŞKAVAK, E., R.H. BOULON & M.K. ATATÜR. 1998. An unusual stranding of a leatherback turtle in Turkey. Marine Turtle Newsletter 80:13.