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Chevallier D, Maucourt L, Charrier I, Lelong P, Le Gall Y, Menut E, Wallace B, Delvenne C, Vincze O, Jeantet L, Girondot M, Martin J, Bourgeois O, Lepori M, Fournier P, Fournier-Chambrillon C, Régis S, Lecerf N, Lefebvre F, Aubert N, Arthus M, Pujol M, Nalovic MA, Nicolas M, Burg MC, Chevallier P, Chevallier T, Landreau A, Meslier S, Larcher E, Le Maho Y. The response of sea turtles to vocalizations opens new perspectives to reduce their bycatch. Sci Rep 2024; 14:16519. [PMID: 39019952 PMCID: PMC11255315 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-67501-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2024] [Accepted: 07/11/2024] [Indexed: 07/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Incidental capture of non-target species poses a pervasive threat to many marine species, with sometimes devastating consequences for both fisheries and conservation efforts. Because of the well-known importance of vocalizations in cetaceans, acoustic deterrents have been extensively used for these species. In contrast, acoustic communication for sea turtles has been considered negligible, and this question has been largely unexplored. Addressing this challenge therefore requires a comprehensive understanding of sea turtles' responses to sensory signals. In this study, we scrutinized the avenue of auditory cues, specifically the natural sounds produced by green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in Martinique, as a potential tool to reduce bycatch. We recorded 10 sounds produced by green turtles and identified those that appear to correspond to alerts, flight or social contact between individuals. Subsequently, these turtle sounds-as well synthetic and natural (earthquake) sounds-were presented to turtles in known foraging areas to assess the behavioral response of green turtles to these sounds. Our data highlighted that the playback of sounds produced by sea turtles was associated with alert or increased the vigilance of individuals. This therefore suggests novel opportunities for using sea turtle sounds to deter them from fishing gear or other potentially harmful areas, and highlights the potential of our research to improve sea turtles populations' conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Damien Chevallier
- BOREA Research Unit, Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et des Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, MNHN, CNRS 8067, SU, IRD 207, UCN, UA, Station de Recherche Marine de Martinique, Quartier Degras, Petite Anse, 97217, Les Anses d'Arlet, France.
| | - Léo Maucourt
- BOREA Research Unit, Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et des Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, MNHN, CNRS 8067, SU, IRD 207, UCN, UA, Station de Recherche Marine de Martinique, Quartier Degras, Petite Anse, 97217, Les Anses d'Arlet, France
- Université des Antilles, Campus de Schoelcher, 97275, Schoelcher Cedex, France
- Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, 91400, Saclay, France
| | - Isabelle Charrier
- Institut des Neurosciences Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, 91400, Saclay, France
| | - Pierre Lelong
- BOREA Research Unit, Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et des Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, MNHN, CNRS 8067, SU, IRD 207, UCN, UA, Station de Recherche Marine de Martinique, Quartier Degras, Petite Anse, 97217, Les Anses d'Arlet, France
- Université des Antilles, Campus de Schoelcher, 97275, Schoelcher Cedex, France
| | - Yves Le Gall
- Ifremer, Service Acoustique Sous-marine et Traitement de l'Information, Direction de la Flotte Océanographique, ZI de la Pointe du Diable - CS 10070, 29280, Plouzane, France
| | - Eric Menut
- Ifremer, Service Acoustique Sous-marine et Traitement de l'Information, Direction de la Flotte Océanographique, ZI de la Pointe du Diable - CS 10070, 29280, Plouzane, France
| | - Bryan Wallace
- Ecolibrium, Inc., 5343 Aztec Drive, Boulder, CO, 80303, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado, 1900 Pleasant St, Boulder, CO, 80302, USA
| | - Cyrielle Delvenne
- BOREA Research Unit, Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et des Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, MNHN, CNRS 8067, SU, IRD 207, UCN, UA, Station de Recherche Marine de Martinique, Quartier Degras, Petite Anse, 97217, Les Anses d'Arlet, France
| | - Orsolya Vincze
- LIttoral, Environnement et Sociétés (LIENSs), UMR 7266, CNRS Université de La Rochelle, 2 rue Olympe de Gouges, 17042, La Rochelle Cedex, France
| | - Lorène Jeantet
- African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, 7 Melrose Rd, Muizenberg, Cape Town, 7950, South Africa
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Victoria Street, Stellenbosch, 7602, South Africa
| | - Marc Girondot
- CNRS, AgroParisTech, Ecologie Systématique et Evolution, Université Paris-Saclay, 91190, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Jordan Martin
- BOREA Research Unit, Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et des Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, MNHN, CNRS 8067, SU, IRD 207, UCN, UA, Station de Recherche Marine de Martinique, Quartier Degras, Petite Anse, 97217, Les Anses d'Arlet, France
| | - Ouvéa Bourgeois
- BOREA Research Unit, Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et des Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, MNHN, CNRS 8067, SU, IRD 207, UCN, UA, Station de Recherche Marine de Martinique, Quartier Degras, Petite Anse, 97217, Les Anses d'Arlet, France
| | - Muriel Lepori
- BOREA Research Unit, Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et des Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, MNHN, CNRS 8067, SU, IRD 207, UCN, UA, Station de Recherche Marine de Martinique, Quartier Degras, Petite Anse, 97217, Les Anses d'Arlet, France
| | - Pascal Fournier
- Groupe de Recherche et d'Etude pour la Gestion de l'Environnement, Route de Préchac, 33730, Villandraut, France
| | | | - Sidney Régis
- BOREA Research Unit, Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et des Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, MNHN, CNRS 8067, SU, IRD 207, UCN, UA, Station de Recherche Marine de Martinique, Quartier Degras, Petite Anse, 97217, Les Anses d'Arlet, France
| | - Nicolas Lecerf
- BOREA Research Unit, Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et des Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, MNHN, CNRS 8067, SU, IRD 207, UCN, UA, Station de Recherche Marine de Martinique, Quartier Degras, Petite Anse, 97217, Les Anses d'Arlet, France
| | - Fabien Lefebvre
- Association ACWAA, Quartier l'Etang, 97217, Les Anses d'Arlet, France
| | - Nathalie Aubert
- Association ACWAA, Quartier l'Etang, 97217, Les Anses d'Arlet, France
| | - Mosiah Arthus
- Solda Lanmè - Caribbean Sea Soldier, 61 rue Anca Bertrand, Cité Dillon, 97200, Fort de France, France
| | - Matthieu Pujol
- BOREA Research Unit, Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et des Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, MNHN, CNRS 8067, SU, IRD 207, UCN, UA, Station de Recherche Marine de Martinique, Quartier Degras, Petite Anse, 97217, Les Anses d'Arlet, France
| | | | - Moulanier Nicolas
- BOREA Research Unit, Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et des Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, MNHN, CNRS 8067, SU, IRD 207, UCN, UA, Station de Recherche Marine de Martinique, Quartier Degras, Petite Anse, 97217, Les Anses d'Arlet, France
| | - Marie-Clémence Burg
- BOREA Research Unit, Laboratoire de Biologie des Organismes et des Ecosystèmes Aquatiques, MNHN, CNRS 8067, SU, IRD 207, UCN, UA, Station de Recherche Marine de Martinique, Quartier Degras, Petite Anse, 97217, Les Anses d'Arlet, France
| | - Pascale Chevallier
- ANSLO-S Association naturaliste de soutien logistique à la science, 7 Avenue Georges Clémenceau, 49280, La Tessoualle, France
| | - Tao Chevallier
- ANSLO-S Association naturaliste de soutien logistique à la science, 7 Avenue Georges Clémenceau, 49280, La Tessoualle, France
| | - Antony Landreau
- ANSLO-S Association naturaliste de soutien logistique à la science, 7 Avenue Georges Clémenceau, 49280, La Tessoualle, France
| | - Stéphane Meslier
- ANSLO-S Association naturaliste de soutien logistique à la science, 7 Avenue Georges Clémenceau, 49280, La Tessoualle, France
| | - Eugène Larcher
- Mairie des Anses d'Arlet, Boulevard des Arlésiens, 97217, Les Anses-d'Arlet, France
| | - Yvon Le Maho
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178, 23 rue Becquerel, 67000, Strasbourg, France
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Zhou L, Lei J, Zhai X, Shi H, Wang J. Chinese striped-neck turtles vocalize underwater and show differences in peak frequency among different age and sex groups. PeerJ 2023; 11:e14628. [PMID: 36655045 PMCID: PMC9841902 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.14628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/02/2022] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Turtle vocalizations play an important role throughout their lives by expressing individual information (position, emotion, or physiological status), reflecting mating preferences, and synchronizing incubation. The Chinese striped-neck turtle (Mauremys sinensis) is one of the most widely distributed freshwater turtles in China, whose wild population is critically endangered. However, its vocalization has not been studied, which can be the basis for behavioral and ecological studies. Methods Five different sex-age groups of turtles were recorded underwater in a soundproof room. Cluster analysis and principal component analysis for classification of Chinese striped-neck turtle calls were unreasonable. The turtle calls were manually sought using visual and aural inspection of the recordings in Raven Pro 1.5 software and classified according to differences perceived through auditory inspection and the morphological characteristics of the spectrograms. The results of similarity analysis verified the reliability of manual classification. We compared the peak frequency of the calls among different age and sex groups. Results We identified ten M. sinensis call types, displayed their spectra and waveforms, and described their auditory characteristics. Most calls produced by the turtles were low-frequency. Some high-frequency call types, that are common in other turtle species were also produced. Similar to other turtles, the Chinese striped-neck turtle generates harmonic vocalizations. Courtship behaviors were observed when one of the call types occurred in the mixed-sex group. Adult females produced more high-frequency call types, and subadult males had higher vocalizations than other groups. These results provide a basis for future research on the function of vocalizations, field monitoring, and conservation of this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lu Zhou
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, China
| | - Jinhong Lei
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, China
| | - Xiaofei Zhai
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, China
| | - Haitao Shi
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, China
| | - Jichao Wang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical Islands, Key Laboratory of Tropical Animal and Plant Ecology of Hainan Province, College of Life Sciences, Hainan Normal University, Haikou, China
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