Preliminary Findings on the Movement and Habitat Preferences of Moza, a Rescued Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) in Fujairah, UAE, through Satellite Tagging

Maryam Alhefeiti, Fawaghy Alhashmi, Sabhah Alhmoudi, Fouad Lamghari, Shaher Bano Mirza

Abstract


Background: On May 14, 2022, Moza, a sub-adult green turtle (Chelonia mydas), was discovered injured on the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates, in the Gulf of Oman. Later, it got rehabilitated and released back to sea with tracker and given the title “Moza”. Given the increasing concerns about marine animal behavior and habitat preferences, this study sought to track and analyze Moza's movements.

Methods: The tracking of turtles was conducted using SPOT-5 back-mount tags supplied by Wildlife Computers, a company based in Seattle, USA. These tags establish communication with the Argos satellite system (http://www.argos-system.org) anytime they rise above the water, and a satellite is within their reach. To preserve battery life and prolong the period of tracking, the tags were set to restrict the number of broadcasts to 250 per day, which were scheduled exclusively during daylight hours (06:00–18:00). The SPOT-5 tags not only communicated location data for the Argos system but also provided temperature information. The investigation was conducted from June 16 to July 31, 2022, along the shoreline near Deira Island, Palm Island, and Dubai World Island. Moza was initially released from Palm Island on June 16, 2022.

Results: The satellite tracking revealed that Moza was located at Dubai World Islands on June 18, 2022, and by June 19, 2022, she had moved to Deira Islands, where she remained for the rest of the study period. Over a tracking period of 45 days (1077.86 hours), Moza traveled a total of 86.3 kilometers in a southwesterly direction from the starting point.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that Moza ceased long-distance movement and remained in the Deira Islands area, likely due to the presence of a suitable habitat. However, ongoing tracking studies with other rehabilitated turtles may provide further insights into habitat preferences and movement patterns.

Keywords: Tracking; Rehabilitation; Green turtle; SPOT-5 tags; Habitat preference; Marine conservation


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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.62940/als.v12i2.3485

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