Loggerhead Turtle Satellite Tracking from Bald Head Island

Four satellite transmitters tracked the long-distance movements of loggerhead sea turtles after nesting on Bald Head Island, North Carolina. The project, conducted by SCIOPS in July 2003, provides insights into migratory and foraging behavior in the Atlantic Ocean. Data collection concluded in 2003, with the dataset last updated in April 2005.

Use Cases

• Analyze migratory routes and foraging grounds using geospatial location data from the Platform Terminal Transmitters (PTTs).
• Model at-sea movement behavior by examining the time-series of satellite-derived positional fixes.
• Study post-nesting dispersal patterns from Bald Head Island by tracking individual turtle trajectories.
• Investigate the relationship between turtle movement and oceanographic features using the WGS 1984 geodetic coordinate data.

Strengths

• Data originates from direct satellite telemetry of 4 individual turtles.
• Geospatial coordinates are referenced to the precise WGS 1984 datum (semi-major axis: 6378137).

Limitations

• Extremely small sample size of only 4 tracked turtles limits statistical power.
• Data is temporally stale, with tracking occurring in 2003 and no updates for nearly two decades.
• Unknown data completeness, such as frequency of location fixes or potential gaps in transmission.

Provenance

Source

SCIOPS, via NASA Earthdata.

Collection Method

Deployment of 4 satellite Platform Terminal Transmitters (PTTs) on loggerhead turtles.

Time Range

July 2003.

Freshness

Static dataset last updated in 2005.

Geography

Atlantic Ocean, with deployment from Bald Head Island, North Carolina, USA.