![]() 2013), and this information is useful in designing conservation measures. Satellite tracking has also revealed connectivity between foraging areas and breeding sites (e.g., male loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta in the Mediterranean Casale et al. 2005), and foraging areas may be home to turtles from multiple nesting sites (e.g. ![]() Satellite tracking has revealed that nesting sites may host turtles originating from multiple foraging areas (e.g., Limpus et al. However, at-sea studies have gained traction in the past decade as greater effort has been invested in understanding foraging, and male, turtle population segments. 2008), as this life stage is logistically easy to work with. Most sea turtle studies have thus focused primarily on post-nesting females (Godley et al. ![]() These studies require greater resource investment (e.g., boats, in-water captures, transport) or opportunistic acquisition (e.g., from bycatch events). However, far less is known about the life history of turtles in foraging areas given the challenges in conducting studies in the vast marine environment across which they are dispersed. Sea turtles spend an inordinate proportion of their lives in foraging areas while in juvenile and sub-adult developmental stages, and later as reproductive adults (Musick and Limpus 1997). Seagrass habitats, where green turtles feed, are extensive across much of the southwest Arabian Gulf (Phillips 2003), and these likely support additional foraging green turtle assemblages (e.g., western Abu Dhabi, Sharjah). Green turtles are, however, extremely abundant in UAE waters and there are well-known foraging areas off Abu Dhabi (EAD 2007) and Ras Al Khaimah (Hasbún et al. 2012) and one other at Khor Kalba in the Gulf of Oman (Hebbelmann et al. ( 2004) reported isolated nesting by green turtles on UAE islands one nest was recorded on Sir Bu Nair island inside of the Gulf (Al-Suweidi et al. In the United Arab Emirates nesting by green turtles is similarly rare: Miller et al. Unquantified green turtle nesting also reportedly occurs on Kharku Island and at Chahbahar. 2019) and another at Cholotr, facing the Sea of Oman (Mobaraki 2004). One green turtle nest was reported on Sheedvar Island (Mobaraki et al. 2013) and Iran, where green turtle nesting is rare. Significantly smaller nesting sites (< 25 females year −1) exist in Kuwait (Rees et al. In the Arabian region, there are large green turtle nesting sites in Oman (3000–6000 females year −1: Ross and Barwani 1982), Saudi Arabia (~ 1000 females year −1: Miller 1989 Pilcher 2000) and Yemen (5000–8000 females year −1: Saad 1999 Nasher and Al Jumaily 2015). These data may contribute to targeted and effective national and international management and conservation initiatives in the Arabian region. Our data indicate that the Marawah Marine Biosphere Reserve in Abu Dhabi is broadly coincident with the foraging areas of turtles offering substantial protection from fishery activities and that the marine protected area in Ras Al Khaimah would be more effective in protecting green sea turtles if it extended offshore and along the coast. A small proportion of turtles also utilise more than one foraging site. Turtles display substantial fidelity to the original foraging sites, often traversing other known foraging sites when returning from the breeding migration. The turtles use the waters of the UAE, Iran and Oman during breeding migrations and generally stay ~ 20 km off the coast, in waters 10–20 m deep except when crossing the Sea of Oman. Tracking 45 adult green sea turtles Chelonia mydas from foraging areas in the UAE, we show that the primary nesting destination for turtles foraging in Bu Tinah in the UAE is Ras al Hadd in Oman. We document linkages between two foraging areas in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with key nesting sites and provide insights on effectiveness of marine protected areas for green sea turtles. Little is known of the connectivity between these sites in the Arabian region for green sea turtles. ![]() Adult sea turtles migrate between foraging areas and nesting sites that may be 100 s–1000 s of km away.
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