SATELLITE TRACKING EXPERIMENTS ON THE NAVIGATIONAL ABILITY AND MIGRATORY BEHAVIOR OF THE LOGGERHEAD TURTLE CARETTA-CARETTA

Four loggerhead females (Caretta caretta) were caught when emerging at their nesting beach on the Natal coast, prevented from egg laying and displaced along the coast 35 to 70 km from the capture site. They wer e then released either on the shore or 37 km offshore. The successful journeys back to the capture area and the successive migrations were t racked by satellite. In compensating for the displacement, loggerheads showed a capability of true navigation. The 545 to 1000 km long migra tory journeys of three turtles were followed along the Mozambique coas t up to the feeding grounds. Migratory speed was similar at night and during the day. During the trip, submergences were shorter and more fr equent than during the stay at the feeding grounds.