title: Deepwater Horizon oil spill impacts on sea turtles could span the Atlantic.
abstract: We investigated the extent that the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill potentially affected oceanic-stage sea turtles from populations across the Atlantic. Within an ocean-circulation model, particles were backtracked from the Gulf of Mexico spill site to determine the probability of young turtles arriving in this area from major nesting beaches. The abundance of turtles in the vicinity of the oil spill was derived by forward-tracking particles from focal beaches and integrating population size, oceanic-stage duration and stage-specific survival rates. Simulations indicated that 321 401 (66 199-397 864) green (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) turtles were likely within the spill site. These predictions compared favourably with estimates from in-water observations recently made available to the public (though our initial predictions for Kemp's ridley were substantially lower than in-water estimates, better agreement was obtained with modifications to mimic behaviour of young Kemp's ridley turtles in the northern Gulf). Simulations predicted 75.2% (71.9-76.3%) of turtles came from Mexico, 14.8% (11-18%) from Costa Rica, 5.9% (4.8-7.9%) from countries in northern South America, 3.4% (2.4-3.5%) from the United States and 1.6% (0.6-2.0%) from West African countries. Thus, the spill's impacts may extend far beyond the current focus on the northern Gulf of Mexico.
authors.affiliation: Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies, Rosenstiel School for Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149, USA nathan.putman@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Nathan F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Putman
authors.affiliation: Unidad Académica Mazatlán, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mazatlán, Sinaloa 82040, Mexico.
authors.forename: F Alberto
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Abreu-Grobois
authors.affiliation: Unidad Académica Mazatlán, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mazatlán, Sinaloa 82040, Mexico.
authors.forename: Iñaky
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Iturbe-Darkistade
authors.affiliation: 1252 South Alhambra Circle, Apt. 4, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA.
authors.forename: Emily M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Putman
authors.affiliation: National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Fisheries Science Center, 75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, FL 33149, USA.
authors.forename: Paul M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Richards
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR 248 MARBEC, Centre de Recherche Halieutique Méditerranéenne et Tropicale, av. Jean Monnet, B.P. 171, Sète cedex 34203, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Verley
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D060851:Gulf of America; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D059392:Petroleum Pollution; D011156:Population Density; D062211:Spatio-Temporal Analysis; D014426:Turtles / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: distribution; movement ecology; ocean-circulation model; oil spill; sea turtle