Sea turtle migration
Post-hatchling migration
Juveniles often reside in coastal feeding grounds as is the case with green sea turtles and loggerheads. Adult sea turtles can be divided into 3 categories according to their movements. Leatherbacks and olive ridley turtles roam widely and unpredictably before returning to specific breeding sites. Satellite tracking of leatherbacks showed however that they tended to stay within relatively food-rich areas of the ocean during their migration. Kemp's ridley sea turtles, loggerheads and flatback sea turtles migrate between breeding areas and a series of coastal foraging areas. Green sea turtles and hawksbill sea turtles shuttle between fixed foraging and nesting sites. Both species of ridley sea turtle nest in large aggregations, a phenomenon called an arribada. It is thought to be an adaptation against predators — there are simply too many eggs for the predators to consume. One unifying aspect of sea turtle migrations is their ability to return to specific nesting sites over vast areas of ocean year after year. They may return to the beach where they hatched, an ability called natal philopatry and this has been demonstrated in green turtles using mitochondrial DNA analysis.
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