Satellite Tracking Reveals Nesting Patterns, Site Fidelity, and Potential Impacts of Warming on Major Green Turtle Rookeries in the Red Sea

Major aggregations of nesting green turtles ( Chelonia mydas ) occur in the northern Red Sea, although little is known about reproductive ecology this endangered species region. To address issue, we satellite-tracked 30 female to document their movements and identify factors driving habitat use at two major rookeries Jazirat Mashabah (Mashabah Island) Ras Al Baridi Saudi Arabia. Between successive events, displayed high fidelity beaches adjacent in-water habitats (inter-nesting habitats). Using generalized linear mixed models, estimated mean probability per beach emergence (nesting success rate) be 0.628, duration between a successful event onto (re-nesting interval) 10.8 days each site. The rate was relatively (>0.8) when preceding daytime land surface temperature (LST) lower than 37°C but decreased with elevated LST (<0.4 >47°C). Re-nesting interval longer water temperatures towards end season individuals. Our study improves robustness abundance estimates from census data (e.g., track counts) shows that protection inter-nesting during breeding would an effective conservation strategy for species. We discuss how global warming could increase energy expenditure due lowered success, ultimately compromising fitness these populations.