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Upwell Turtles

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki




Upwell Turtles (Upwell) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization working to protect endangered sea turtles by reducing threats at sea.

Overview

Upwell Turtles (Upwell) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization headquartered in Monterey, California. Upwell’s mission is to protect endangered sea turtles by reducing threats at sea, including fisheries bycatch, ship strikes, marine pollution, climate change, and other detrimental human activities.

Upwell works with community and regional stakeholders, scientific researchers, and citizen scientists to: fill data gaps on sea turtle movements and life histories; design and implement new conservation technologies for reducing incidental capture of sea turtles by fishing vessels; and advance data-driven protections for sea turtles in marine habitats around the world.

Approach

A key factor differentiating Upwell is the organization’s focus on protecting turtles in marine habitats, rather than solely focusing on protection of nesting grounds. Sea turtles spend most of their lives in the ocean. It takes decades for sea turtles to reach sexual maturity; during these “lost years'' they face multitudinous threats at sea. After reaching maturity and mating at sea, female sea turtles typically return to natal beaches to nest. Mature males may seek out mates in waters fringing nesting beaches, but male sea turtles almost never return to land after dispersal from nesting beaches as hatchlings. (Rare exceptions include basking behavior exhibited by male green sea turtles on the island of Hawai’i).[1]

Sea turtle populations can be expected to decline when mortality outpaces recruitment. Conservation scientists advocate a dualistic approach to restoring sea turtle populations: increasing recruitment and decreasing mortality. Working in partnership with groups at nesting beaches boosting recruitment, Upwell identifies marine habitats where local turtles forage, mate, and migrate and explores opportunities to reduce mortality at sea. This includes linking threats to various stages of a turtle’s biological life cycle (e.g., disorientation from artificial lighting during hatchling dispersal[2] or bycatch risk in internesting habitat).[3] Upwell’s findings enable local conservationists and resource managers to advance policy and regulatory frameworks to protect “their turtles” within territorial waters and promote their safe remigration between nesting cycles.  

National-level protections for sea turtles both at nesting beaches and within Exclusive Economic Zones, such as those afforded under the Endangered Species Act in the United States, can assist recovery of sea turtle populations.[4] Even with these protections, highly migratory species may continue to experience high levels of mortality in areas beyond national jurisdiction (i.e., on the high seas). Upwell engages stakeholders in conservation efforts to extend protections beyond nesting beaches and, as needed, beyond national jurisdictions. To reduce mortality within critically endangered populations of highly migratory sea turtles (e.g., East Pacific and West Pacific leatherbacks), Upwell advances conservation measures at multiple levels, from small-scale fishing cooperatives to regional fisheries management organizations.

History

Upwell was created in 2017.

Dr. George Shillinger co-founded Upwell with socio-ecologist Dr. Kristin Reed following their collaboration on efforts to safeguard nesting beaches for leatherback turtles on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Egg collection and poaching had effectively been eliminated with the establishment of Las Baulas Marine National Park, but the leatherback population did not rebound. Recognizing a need to address high mortality from fisheries bycatch in declining leatherback populations,[5] Upwell seeks to improve protections for endangered sea turtles in marine habitats. Scientists working with Upwell conduct primary research on sea turtle movements and behaviors to guide in-water conservation strategy.

The organization’s name is an homage to an oceanic phenomenon driven by wind and currents called upwelling, which results in increased biological productivity.

Leadership

Upwell’s Executive Director is Dr. George Shillinger. He has a PhD in Marine Biology and expertise in the use of advanced technologies to track and predict sea turtle movements.[6]

Numbers of East Pacific leatherbacks nesting at Las Baulas Marine National Park had fallen from 1,504 during the 1988–1989 season[7] to 68 in the 2002–2003 nesting season[8] when George began work on a multi-year movement ecology research initiative. His resulting publications analyzed satellite tracking data from 46 tagged leatherbacks, documented how East Pacific leatherbacks use ocean habitats,[9] and highlighted opportunities to protect leatherbacks within internesting habitats[10] and along migration corridors.[11] George also conducted research on how oceanographic conditions at Playa Grande and other nesting beaches in the region influenced leatherback hatchling dispersal and survival.[12] He published a contemporaneous paper recognizing the limitations imposed by contemporary tagging technologies on scientific understanding of sea turtle life histories.[13] These publications set the stage for further studies under the banner of Upwell as technological advancements created improved opportunities for conservation-oriented research at sea.

Programs

Upwell’s programs center on mobilizing actionable data and technologies to advance protections for turtles at sea. The organization’s scientists conduct primary research to better understand how sea turtles use ocean habitats and travel through large marine ecosystems (e.g., California Current, Humboldt Current, Gulf Stream). Patterns in the data can reveal persistent threats and conservation opportunities. Data collection often involves tagging and tracking turtles at various life history stages.

In partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Upwell monitors critically endangered West Pacific leatherbacks along the US West Coast, including within the Greater Farallones, Monterey Bay, and Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuaries.

Upwell collaborates with Ecology Project International from Pacuare Nature Reserve in Costa Rica to examine internesting and post-nesting movements of leatherbacks in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and up the Atlantic seaboard. Acoustic tracking studies of West Atlantic leatherback sea turtle hatchlings conducted by Upwell researchers elucidated dispersal patterns from Pacuare into the Caribbean Sea.[14] [15] Field studies with Florida Atlantic University researchers track juvenile leatherbacks raised at the Gumbo Limbo Environmental Complex following release into the Atlantic Ocean.[16] Upwell partnered with Digital Life and the University of Massachusetts Amherst on an open-source, 3D swimming juvenile leatherback model. The organization’s work on the Sea Turtle Active Movement Model with Mercator Océan yields predictions on hatchling dispersal and movements of turtles in the years prior to reaching maturity.

By overlaying movement data from satellite-tagged adult turtles with remotely sensed oceanographic variables (e.g., sea surface temperature), Upwell creates models to predict sea turtle distribution and abundance.[17] Scientists from Upwell and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science developed a unique model that predicts where East Pacific leatherbacks are most likely to be present based on real-time oceanographic data.[18] The latest iteration of the model incorporates fisheries observer data.[19] Using the model as a foundation, Upwell created South Pacific TurtleWatch, a conservation tool designed to inform managers and fishers of the likelihood of encountering critically endangered leatherbacks so they can avoid costly fisheries interactions in waters off Chile, Peru, and Ecuador.

Upwell compiles data from national fisheries agencies and regional fisheries management organizations to improve predictive models. The organization also trains small-scale fishers and ocean-going citizen scientists (e.g., sailboaters, divers) to assist in the documentation of sea turtle sightings. Data crowdsourcing via the Sea Turtle Spotter project on iNaturalist broadens participation in conservation and sometimes reveals new sea turtle movement patterns and behaviors.

The organization’s scientists often marshal data from primary research and predictive models to support marine protected areas, ecologically or biologically significant marine areas, and transboundary protected areas beneficial to imperiled sea turtle populations. Dr. Shillinger collaborated with MigraMar on a conservation proposal for the Galápagos-Cocos Swimway, a marine wildlife corridor aimed at protecting multiple species (e.g., leatherback and green turtles, silky sharks, whale sharks, and scalloped hammerheads) that regularly travel between the Galápagos Islands and Cocos Island.

Publications

External Links

  1. Upwell - official website
  2. Sea Turtle Spotter project - iNaturalist platform
  3. GuideStar - the most complete, up-to-date nonprofit data available
  4. Sketchfab - DigitalLife Model 72A Juvenile Leatherback Sea Turtle model

References

  1. ↑ Whittow, G.C. & Balazs, G.H. (1982). Basking behavior of the Hawaiian green turtle (Chelonia mydas). Pac Sci 36(2): 129-139. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/415 
  2. ↑ Cruz, Lauren & Shillinger, George & Robinson, Nathan & Tomillo, Pilar & Paladino, Frank. (2018). Effect of light intensity and wavelength on the in-water orientation of olive ridley turtle hatchlings. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. 505. 52-56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2018.05.002
  3. ↑ Ortiz Alvarez, Clara & Pajuelo, Mariela & Grados, Daniel & Abrego, Marino & Barragán-Rocha, Ana & Barrantes, Mariano & Sánchez, Alejandro & Fonseca, Luis & Espinal, Velkiss & Mangel, Jeffrey & Rguez-Baron, Juan M. & Santidrián-Tomillo, Pilar & Sarti, Laura & Santana-Hernandez, Heriberto & Shillinger, George & Prado, Myriam & Wallace, Bryan & Williard, Amanda & Zavala-Norzagaray, Alan & Alfaro Shigueto, Joanna. (2020). Rapid Assessments of Leatherback Small-Scale Fishery Bycatch in Internesting Areas in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Frontiers in Marine Science. 6. 813. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00813
  4. ↑ Valdivia, A. & Wolf, S. & Suckling, K (2019). Marine mammals and sea turtles listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act are recovering. PLoS ONE 14(1): e0210164.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0210164
  5. ↑ Roe, J. H., Morreale, S. J., Paladino, F. V., Shillinger, G. L., Benson, S. R., Eckert, S. A., et al. (2014). Predicting bycatch hotspots for endangered leatherback turtles on longlines in the Pacific Ocean. Proc. R. Soc. B Biol. Sci. 281:20132559. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.2559
  6. ↑ Chatfield, Michael. “Saving Sea Turtles.” Carmel Magazine, 4 June 2020, https://carmelmagazine.com/archive/20sp/saving-sea-turtles
  7. ↑ Santidrián Tomillo, Pilar & Velez, Elizabeth & Reina, Richard & Piedra, Rotney & Paladino, Frank & Spotila, James. (2009). Reassessment of the Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) Nesting Population at Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas, Costa Rica: Effects of Conservation Efforts. Chelonian Conservation and Biology. 6. 54-62. https://doi.org/10.2744/1071-8443(2007)6[54:ROTLTD]2.0.CO;2
  8. ↑ Piedra, Rotney, Witness Statement, Spence International Investments v. The Republic of Costa Rica, 19 June 2014. Accessed February 15, 2021. https://icsid.worldbank.org/sites/default/files/parties_publications/C3164/Respondent%27s%20Witness%20Statements%20and%20Expert%20Report/RWE-002%20%28Piedra%29%20ENG.pdf
  9. ↑ Shillinger, George & Swithenbank, Alan & Bailey, Helen & Bograd, Steven & MR, Castelton & Wallace, Bryan & JR, Spotila & Paladino, Frank & Piedra, Rotney & Block, Barbara. (2011). Vertical and horizontal habitat preferences of post-nesting leatherback turtles in the South Pacific Ocean. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 422. 275-289. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08884 .
  10. ↑ Shillinger, G. L., Swithenbank, A. M., Bograd, S. J., Bailey, H., Castelton, M. R., Wallace, B. P., et al. (2010). Identification of high-use internesting habitats for eastern Pacific leatherback turtles: role of the environment and implications for conservation. Endanger. Species Res. 10, 215–232. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00251
  11. ↑ Shillinger, G. L., Palacios, D. M., Bailey, H., Bograd, S. J., Swithenbank, A. M., Gaspar, P., et al. (2008). Persistent leatherback turtle migrations present opportunities for conservation. PLoS One Biol. 6:e171. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0060171
  12. ↑ Shillinger, George & Di Lorenzo, Emanuele & Luo, Hao & Bograd, Steven & Hazen, Elliott & Bailey, Helen & Spotila, James. (2012). On the dispersal of leatherback turtle hatchlings from Mesoamerican nesting beaches. Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society. 279. 2391-5. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.2348 .
  13. ↑ Shillinger, George & Bailey, Helen & Bograd, Steven & Hazen, Elliott & Hamann, Mark & Gaspar, Philippe & Godley, Brendan & Wilson, Rory & Spotila, J. (2012). Tagging through the stages: technical and ecological challenges in observing life histories through biologging. MEPS. 457. 165-170. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09816
  14. ↑ Hoover, Aimee & Shillinger, George & Williamson, Sean & Reina, Richard & Bailey, Helen. (2020). Nearshore neonate dispersal of Atlantic leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) from a non-recovering subpopulation. Scientific Reports. 10. 18748. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75769-0
  15. ↑ Barbour, Nicole & Shillinger, George & Hoover, Aimee & Williamson, Sean & Coles, Victoria & Liang, Dong & Fagan, William & Bailey, Helen. (2020). Environmental and Biological Factors Influencing Dispersal of Neonate Leatherback Turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) From an Endangered Costa Rican Nesting Population. Frontiers in Marine Science. 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.582933
  16. ↑ Howard, Sam. "In U.S. first, Loggerhead Marinelife and partners weigh nesting leatherbacks in Florida". The St. Augustine Record. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  17. ↑ Hoover, Aimee & Liang, Dong & Alfaro Shigueto, Joanna & Mangel, Jeffrey & Miller, Peter & Morreale, Stephen & Bailey, Helen & Shillinger, George. (2019). Predicting residence time using a continuous-time discrete-space model of leatherback turtle satellite telemetry data. Ecosphere. 10. e02644. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.2644
  18. ↑ Staff Writer, Science X. “Tracking Turtles with Telemetry.” Phys.org, Phys.org, 14 Mar. 2019. https://phys.org/news/2019-03-tracking-turtles-telemetry.html
  19. ↑ Degenford, J.H. & Liang, D. & Bailey, H., et al. Using fisheries observation data to develop a predictive species distribution model for endangered sea-turtles. Conservation Science and Practice. 2021;e349. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.349
  20. ↑ Howard, Sam. "In U.S. first, Loggerhead Marinelife and partners weigh nesting leatherbacks in Florida". The St. Augustine Record. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  21. ↑ "Tracking Turtles with Telemetry". University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. 2019-03-13. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  22. ↑ "Upwell". Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  23. ↑ "Saving Sea Turtles – Carmel Magazine". carmelmagazine.com. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  24. ↑ "Upwell Uses Zoom to Continue Global Sea Turtle Conservation Efforts Amid COVID-19". Zoom Blog. 2020-07-17. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  25. ↑ "Latitude 38" (PDF). Latitude 38. January 2020: 97–98.

Upwell Turtles


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