Satellite telemetry has been used to track the in-water movements and distribution of all seven species of sea turtle. While tracking multiple individuals across many years can reveal population-level shifts in behavior, these sample sizes are difficult to achieve, and smaller sample sizes, particularly in under-studied populations, are not only more feasible, but are critical in identifying previously unknown habitats and observing variations in movement patterns on a smaller scale. Satellite telemetry has become one of the most reliable and widely used tracking technologies, especially in marine research. Tracking animal movements also provides insight into navigation, impacts of food availability and environmental factors on spatial use, and energy costs of different migration patterns, which can improve our understanding of what drives specific movements. It also gives insight into migration and habitat use patterns across multiple taxa and has revealed behavioral patterns across taxonomically distinct species such as similarities in prey pursuit and predator avoidance behaviors. Animal tracking is often critical in assessing the overlap between human threats and vulnerable wildlife habitats, and therefore can indicate the level of human impact on species that may be otherwise unknown.

The insights gained from these studies can inform policy and management by providing detailed data on species distribution and delineating habitats used during important life history stages, such as breeding, foraging, and nesting areas. This technology has produced a more comprehensive understanding of the movements and spatial ecology of marine, terrestrial, and avian species that had previously been difficult to track due to the length of their migrations and inaccessibility of frequently used habitats.

Long distance animal migrations are becoming increasingly well-studied with the advent of reliable, individual-level tracking technology. The identification of these foraging grounds highlights the importance of these coastal waters for the protection of the endangered Atlantic green turtle. These five resident turtles inhabit heavily fished waters and are vulnerable to a variety of anthropogenic threats. Of the six turtles, five completed their migration and maintained residency at the same foraging ground near the coastal waters of Accra, Ghana until transmission was lost. Turtles exhibited a combination of coastal and oceanic migrations pathways that ranged from 957 km to 1,131 km. Migratory pathways and foraging grounds were identified by applying a switching state space model to locational data, which provides daily position estimates to identify shifts between migrating and foraging behavior. Track lengths of 20вЂ“198 days were analyzed, for a total of 536 movement days for the six turtles. It identifies a migratory corridor linking breeding grounds of Atlantic green turtles nesting on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea, to foraging grounds in the coastal waters of Accra, Ghana.

This study uses satellite telemetry to track post-nesting movements of endangered green turtles ( Chelonia mydas) (n = 6) in the Gulf of Guinea.

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