Identification of key marine areas for conservation based on satellite tracking of post-nesting migrating green turtles (Chelonia mydas)

International audienceThe green turtle (Chelonia mydas) is classified as an endangered species on the IUCN Red List since 1986.This species is especially threatened in South America due to bycatch by fisheries along the northeasterncoasts. It is particularly crucial to identify specific marine areas for conservation measures to safeguardgreen turtle rookeries in Suriname and French Guiana. Our study provides valuable information to attainthis goal, describing the satellite tracking of post-nesting migration routes used by 16 green turtles fittedwith Argos/GPS Fastloc satellite tags at the end of the nesting season. The data we obtained show a singlemigratory corridor: all the turtles followed a similar eastward route along the Guianan and the Braziliancoast. The GPS signal was lost for two individuals a few weeks after tracking commenced, suggesting thatthey were caught by fishermen. Thirteen turtles reached the coast of the state of Ceará (Brazil), wherethey spent at least one month. One turtle continued 700 km further to the coastal regions of Natal andRecife (Brazil), which are known feeding areas of the green turtle populations nesting on AscensionIsland. The migratory corridor is essentially narrow, with a width of 22 km for most of the distancecovered. It constitutes a major dynamic link between the nesting and feeding areas and crosses threeRegional Management Units of the Atlantic basin. Since green turtles face a high risk of being caughtin fishing nets, measures of protection should be implemented along this corridor