The Biology of Sea Turtles

447 Pages·1996·38.289 MB·English

by  Peter L. Lutz, John A. Musick, Jeanette Wyneken

The
BIOLOGY
/
0
SEA TURTLES
Marine Science Series
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The
BIOLOGY
of
SEA TURTLES
Edited by
Peter L. Lutz
John A. Musick
CRC P R E SS
Boca Raton London New York Washington, D.C.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The biology of sea turtles / edited by Peter L. Lutz and John A.
Musick.
p. cm. — (CRC marine science series)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 0-8493-8422-2
1. Sea turtles. I. Lutz, Peter L. II. Musick, John A.
III. Series; Marine science series.
QL666.C536B56 1996
597.92—dc20 96-36432
CIP
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Preface
The impetus for this book comes from the explosion in interest and involvement in
sea turtle biology and conservation. The interest in sea turtles is easy to understand.
The turtles belong to the most ancient line of living reptiles, first appearing more
than 200 million years ago in the late Triassic. When turtles first entered the sea is
not known, probably in the early Mesozoic, and for the next 100 million years,
during the rise and reign of the dinosaurs, the sea turtles shared the ocean with a
rich diversity of other air breathing reptiles, including the ichthyosaurs and plesio­
saurs. But while the end of the Cretaceous witnessed the extinction of the dominant
large reptiles, the sea turtles continued to flourish up until very recent times when
their numbers have, through human interference, drastically declined. In order to
appreciate the causes of this collapse it must help to understand the selective advan­
tages that have allowed sea turtles to survive so tenaciously, and, more particularly,
how they managed to hold their own against the comparatively recent invasions of
the sea by mammals. Up until the past 20 years or so most information on sea turtles
had been confined by the accessible, the nesting female and her eggs. But the use
of new technologies in data gathering — including mitochondrial DNA analyses,
remote sensing, and more sophisticated physiological monitoring techniques — has
resulted in a substantially greater understanding of sea turtle biology at all stages
of their life history. Major advances have been made in such broad areas as popu­
lation genetics and phylogeny, sensory biology, migration and orientation, hatchling
behavior, age and growth, reproduction and endocrinology, sex determination, diving
physiology, and osmoregulation.
The results of these diverse studies are widely scattered in the literature which
this book brings together in a comprehensive summary; no similar reference has
previously been available. However, it is not a mere compilation, its focus is on how
sea turtles operate in, are adapted to, and are dependent upon their marine environ­
ment. Considering the endangered status of these fascinating giant marine reptiles,
the book also deals with the threats to survival presented by manmade changes to
the ocean and coastal zones.
Peter L. Lutz
John A. Musîck
Acknowledgment
The idea for this book was bom out of many late nights of discussions with friends
and colleagues at annual meetings of the Sea Turtle Symposium. This convocation
has grown since 1981 from a small group of about 60 scientists and conservationists
to more than 700 workers drawn from 30 nations each year. We are extremely grateful
for those who contributed chapters, as well as those who freely gave of their precious
time as reviewers. This book is dedicated to the collegial spirit of scholarship and
camaraderie embodied in the Annual Sea Turtle Symposium.
The Editors
Peter L. Lutz, Ph.D., holds the McGinty Eminent Scholar Chair in Marine Biology
at Florida Atlantic University. Dr. Lutz received both his B.Sc. and Ph.D. from
Glasgow University, Scotland. After finishing his Ph.D. in 1970 he became a research
associate with Dr. Knut Schmidt-Nielsen at Duke University, with whom he worked
on avian respiration. In 1972 he became a Lecturer at the University of Bath,
England, and in 1974 an Associate Professor in Marine Biology at the Rosenstile
School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami. In 1982 he was
promoted to Professor and in 1983 became Chairman of Marine Biology and Fish­
eries, a post he held until he took up his present position in 1991.
As a comparative physiologist, he has worked on the physiology of a wide
variety of organisms, from liver flukes to duck-billed platypuses. His current interests
center on survival strategies of anoxia-tolerant brains and on the physiology of sea
turtles. Dr. Lutz is a member of the Society for Neuroscience, the American Phys­
iological Society, and the Society for Experimental Biology. He is Series Editor for
the Marine Science Series published by CRC Press. He was a Governing Council
Member, Bahamas National Trust, and is a Fellow of the Explorers Club and member
of the Species Survival Commission of the lUCN. He has authored more than 150
research papers and 2 books.
John A. (Jack) Mustek, Ph.D., received his B.A. in Biology from Rutgers University
in 1962 and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1964 and 1969, respec­
tively. He has been on the faculty at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College
of William and Mary since 1967 and has successfully mentored 28 M.A. and 30
Ph.D. students. His research has covered many aspects of vertebrate ecology includ­
ing community structure in deep sea fishes, shark population dynamics, and sea
turtle ecology. In 1985, he was elected a Fellow by the American Association for
the Advancement of Science. He has served as President of both the American
Elasmobranch Society and the Annual Sea Turtle Symposium and has also served
on numerous national and international advisory groups for conservation and man­
agement, most recently on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature
working groups for sharks and sea turtles. He has authored or contributed to more
than 100 research papers and 3 books.
Contributors
Ralph A. Ackerman, Ph.D. Catherine M.F. Lohmann, Ph.D.
Department of Zoolology and Genetics Department of Biology
Iowa State University University of North Carolina
Ames, Iowa Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Karen A. Bjorndal, Ph.D. Kenneth J. Lohmann, Ph.D.
Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Department of Biology
Research University of North Carolina
and Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Department of Zoology
University of Florida Molly E. Lutcavage, Ph.D.
Gainesville, Florida Edgerton Research Center
New England Aquarium
Brian W. Bowen, Ph.D. Boston, Massachusetts
Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle
Research Peter L. Lutz, Ph.D.
and Department of Biological Sciences
Department of Zoology Florida Atlantic University
University of Florida Boca Raton, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Jeffrey D. Miller, Ph.D.
M.Y. Chaloupka, Ph.D. Queensland Department of Environment
Queensland Department of Environment Townsville, Queensland, Australia
and Heritage
Townsville, Queensland, Australia John A. Musick, Ph.D.
School of Marine Science
Robert H. George, D.V.M. Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Aquatic Animal Medicine Consultants Gloucester Point, Virginia
Gloucester, Virginia
Michael P. O’Connor, Ph.D.
Stephen A. Karl, Ph.D. Department of Bioscience and
Biology Department Biotechnology
University of South Florida Drexel University
Tampa, Florida Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Colin J. Limpus, Ph.D. David W. Owens, Ph.D.
Queensland Department of Environment Department of Biology
and Heritage Texas A & M University
Brisbane, Australia College Station, Texas
Frank V. Paladino, Ph.D, Michael Salmon, Ph.D.
Department of Biology Department of Biological Sciences
Purdue University Florida Atlantic University
Fort Wayne, Indiana Boca Raton, Florida
Pamela T. Plotkin, Ph.D. James R. Spotila, Ph.D.
Department of Bioscience and Department of Bioscience and
Biotechnology Biotechnology
Drexel University Drexel University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Blair E. Witherington, Ph.D.
Peter C.H. Pritchard, Ph.D.
Florida Marine Research Institute
Florida Audubon Society
Department of Environmental Protection
Winter Park, Florida
Tequesta, Florida
Jeanette Wyneken, Ph.D.
Department of Biological Sciences
Florida Atlantic University
Boca Raton. Florida