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Abstract ID: 1761 Type: Oral Subject: Turtles and Climate Change Country: United Kingdom

Submitted By: Matthew Witt (m.j.witt@ex.ac.uk)

The current unprecedented rate of climate change is an accepted global phenomenon. The consequences of such change are likely to impact all marine systems, including those involving leatherbacks. We conducted a detailed spatio-temporal analysis of over 50 years of leatherback sightings on the European continental shelf. As expected for an endothermic species, when we compare sightings with archival sea surface temperatures, we demonstrate how accessible foraging habitats are temperature delimited and related to body size differences within the species. To further contextualize the predator among its prey, we compare sightings and published satellite tracking data across the North Atlantic with a unique, integrative gelatinous seascape gathered through long-term zooplankton monitoring by the Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey. We highlight key areas of productivity known to be frequented by leatherbacks, those accessible but as yet uninvestigated, and those which are currently thermally constrained.

Within the context of climate change, we investigate the possible effects of past and future climatic changes on the phenology and range of the species and highlight the further potential for additional anthropogenic disturbances.