Investigating the dispersal of hawksbill and green sea turtle hatchlings in the Arabian Gulf
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- Understanding early life dispersal in sea turtles remains challenging, despite its importance for the conservation of these endangered species. This study focuses on the Arabian/Persian Gulf, a region hosting both green and hawksbill sea turtles. We use the multiscale ocean model SLIM coupled with a Lagrangian particle tracker to investigate hatchlings dispersal during their "lost years". The results demonstrate that incorporating active swimming behaviour, particularly during the initial swimming frenzy phase, substantially alters predicted dispersal pathways compared to passive drift. Hatchlings’ dispersal was also found to be highly sensitive to wind-driven processes due to the strong shamals winds of the region. Clear species-specific differences emerge: hawksbill sea turtles hatchlings, which display weaker swimming performance and greater sensitivity to wind forcing than green sea turtles hatchlings, tend to remain closer to the coastline. A sensitivity analysis conducted for Saudi Arabian nesting sites further suggests that the influence of shamal-driven drift on the dispersal may be mitigated by diving or orienting more strongly towards offshore waters. After one year of dispersal, most individuals were located along the southern shores of the Gulf, while only a small fraction exited the basin during winter, when circulation patterns favour outward transport. Hawksbill sea turtles hatchlings also appear more likely than green sea turtles to encounter favourable habitats such as coral reefs or marine protected areas. The model does not yet include all behavioural mechanisms that may influence swimming direction, and results on dispersal patterns could not be validated due to the absence of empirical tracking data in the region.