PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
The cryptic and aquatic life histories of sea turtles have made them a challenging group to directly observe, leaving significant knowledge gaps regarding social behavior and fine-scale elements of habitat use. Using a custom-designed animal-borne camera, we observed previously undocumented behaviors by green turtles (Chelonia mydas) at a foraging area in San Diego Bay, a highly urbanized ecosystem in California, USA. We deployed a suction-cup-attached pop-off camera (manufactured by Customized Animal Tracking Solutions) on 11 turtles (mean straight carapace length = 84.0 ± 11.2 cm) for between 1 and 30.8 h. Video recordings, limited to sunlit hours, provided 73 h of total observation time between May 2022 and June 2023. We observed 32 conspecific interactions; we classified 18 as active, entailing clear social behaviors, as compared with 14 passive interactions representing brief, chance encounters. There was no evidence for agonistic interactions. The camera additionally revealed that green turtles consistently use metal structures within urban San Diego Bay. In seven instances, turtles exhibited rubbing behavior against metal structures, and we observed two examples of turtles congregating at these structures. High rates of intraspecific interaction exhibited relatively consistently among individuals provide a compelling case for sociality for green turtles in San Diego Bay, adding to a growing research base updating their historical label of \"non-social.\" The frequent use of metal structures by the population, in particular the rubbing of exposed skin, has implications for behavioral adaptations to urban environments. Our study exemplifies the promise of technological advances (e.g., underwater and animal-borne cameras) for updating natural history paradigms, even for well-studied populations.
摘要：
海龟的神秘和水生生活史使它们成为直接观察的挑战性群体，在社会行为和栖息地使用的精细尺度要素方面留下了巨大的知识空白。使用定制设计的动物相机，我们在圣地亚哥湾的一个觅食区观察到绿海龟（Cheloniamydas）以前没有记录的行为，加州高度城市化的生态系统，美国。我们在11只海龟（平均直甲壳长度=84.0±11.2cm）上部署了带有吸盘的弹出式摄像机（由定制动物跟踪解决方案制造），持续1至30.8小时。限于日照时间，提供了2022年5月至2023年6月的73小时总观测时间。我们观察到32个特定的相互作用；我们将18个分类为活跃的，需要明确的社会行为，与代表短暂的14次被动互动相比，偶然的相遇。没有证据表明存在激动相互作用。相机还显示，绿海龟一直在城市圣地亚哥湾内使用金属结构。在七个例子中，海龟对金属结构表现出摩擦行为，我们观察到两个海龟聚集在这些结构中。在个体之间相对一致地表现出的高的种内相互作用率，为圣地亚哥湾的绿海龟的社交性提供了令人信服的理由，增加了一个不断增长的研究基础，更新了他们“非社会”的历史标签。“人们经常使用金属结构，特别是摩擦暴露的皮肤，对城市环境的行为适应有影响。我们的研究体现了技术进步的前景(例如，水下和动物传播相机)，用于更新自然历史范式，即使是经过充分研究的人群。
