Satellite tracking of leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles on the Southeast African coastline

The waters of southeast Africa contain important habitats for several sea turtle species, including the leatherback Dermochelys coriacea, loggerhead Caretta caretta, hawksbill Eretmochelys imbricata, green Chelonia mydas, and olive ridley turtle Lepidochelys olivacea. Many of these species are of conservation concern (Rakotoniria & Cooke, 1994; Thorson et al., 2012; Nel et al., 2013) and vulnerable to regional threats such as fisheries by-catch or boat-strikes (Bourjea et al., 2008; Grantham et al., 2008; Pusineri & Quillard, 2008). To help in the development of effective conservation plans for these species, many conservation or research organisations have used satellite transmitters to help identify critical habitats for sea turtles (Harris et al., 2015; Robinson et al., 2016). Here, we review the movement patterns of sea turtles that have been tracked through satellite telemetry from their nesting beaches on the east coast of South Africa