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Marine Turtle Newsletter 104:14, © 2004
Sightings of the Leatherback Turtle off the Southern Coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Valéria Cristina Lopes Marques 1, Michele Ferreira Fernandes 1, Patrícia Greco Campos 1, Guilherme Fluckiger 2, Rose Emília Macedo de Queiroz 1 & Sheila Marino Simão 1,3
1 Departamento Ciências Ambientais, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, km 7 BR-465 - Seropédica, RJ - 23890-000, Brazil,
2 Instituto Oceanográfico, Universidade de São Paulo, Praça do Oceanográfico, 191, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo - SP, 05508-900, Brazil,
3 E-mail: smsimao@ufrrj.br
A number of sightings of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) off the coast of Brazil have been reported, for example, from Rio Grande do Norte (Sanches et al. 2001), from Bahia (Barata & Fabiano 2002), from Santa Catarina (Soto et al. 1997 quoted in Barata & Fabiano 2002), from Rio Grande do Sul (Soto et al. 1997 quoted in Barata & Fabiano 2002; Bugoni et al. 2001) not to mention some of the offshore islands (Sampaio 1999). There are no known reports of any sightings of leatherback turtles off the south coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro.
On 18th November 2002, a team from the project Monitoramento de Baleias por Satélite working in the area adjacent to Ilha Grande (23° 35' S; 43° 43' W) sighted three leatherback turtles (ca. 1.5-1.7m in body length).
The observations were made from the fishing vessel Trimar II (20m length) using Minolta 8x-20x50 or Sterm 7x35 binoculars. The actual sightings were made at a distance of ca. 32 nautical miles from the coast and the depth of water at that point was 80 m. The turtles were ca. 10-15m from boat.
The first turtle sighted had an extensive white scar on the posterior right flank that, at the observational distance was consistent with a shark bite. The area where the sightings were made was covered with numerous jellyfish (Coelenterata, Schiphozoa). As these constitute a very important component in the diet of the leatherback turtle, it is suggested that the turtles were in this area for the purposes of feeding.
Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank Shell do Brasil for sponsoring the Project Monitoramento de Baleias por Satélite, and the crew of the vessel Trimar II for assistance with the field work.
BARATA, P.C.R., & F.F.C. FABIANO. 2002. Evidence for leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) nesting in Arraial do Cabo, State of Rio de Janeiro, and a review of occasional leatherback nests in Brazil. Marine Turtle Newsletter 96:13-16.
BUGONI, L., L. KRAUSE & M.V. PETRY. 2001. Marine debris and human impacts on sea turtles in southern Brazil. Marine Pollution Bulletin 42: 1330-1334.
SAMPAIO, C.L.S. 1999. Dermochelys coriacea (leatherback sea turtle) accidental capture. Herpetological Review 30: 38-39.
SANCHES, T.M., C. BELLINI & J.R. SILVA NETO. 2001. Primeiros registros das tartarugas marinhas Dermochelys coriacea e Caretta caretta no Rio Grande do Norte. Resumos dos trabalhos apresentados 9º Congresso Nordestino de Ecologia.
Universidade de Potiguar, Natal. 33pp.