Sea turtle (Reptilia, Testudines) diversity and occurrence in the Azores Archipelago (NE Atlantic)

Abstract Background Six species of marine turtles occur in the Azores Archipelago. The loggerhead, Carettacaretta (Linnaeus, 1758), is by far the most common species and is being constantly monitored and tagged by a joint project between the University of the Azores and the University of Florida since 1989. With the implementation of the tuna fishery observers (for dolphin safe seals), an increment of sea turtle reports has been verified as expected. The leather back turtle, Dermochelyscoriacea (Vandelli, 1761) is the second most observed species in the Azores' EEZ, a fact probably also linked to the tuna fishery observation programme. All other species are occasional/vagrant albeit the green turtle, Cheloniamydas (Linnaeus, 1758) is more commonly seen than the others. Historically, sea turtles were occasionally taken for food in specific fishing villages and ports. Since 1986, sea turtles, as well as all marine mammals, are fully protected in the Azores although human-related activities (e.g. plastics, discarded fishing gear) do generate serious injuries and deaths. New information In this paper, we update sea turtle species' checklist for the Azores and give detailed geographic coordinates on their known occurrences.


Introduction
The Azores form a remote, volcanic archipelago located in the Northeast Atlantic ocean, roughly halfway between Europe and North America (Fig. 1).This location makes the surrounding waters a biodiversity oasis namely for marine vertebrates.Although sea turtles are fully protected in the Azores, human activities (e.g. plastics and discarded/lost fishing gear, collision with ships) do cause serious injuries and deaths (see Barreiros and Barcelos (2001), Barreiros and Raykov (2014)).The recent confirmed report of the Olive Ridley, Lepidochelys olivacea (Eschscholtz, 1829) (Barcelos et al. 2021), increases the number of sea turtle species' in the Azores to six (Barcelos et al. 2022), which means all Atlantic species.This was the first report of a new species within the archipelago's EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) since 1990, when Bolton and Martins (1990), reported the presence of Lepidochelys kempii (Garman, 1880).The seventh known species, Natator depressus (Garman, 1880), has a restricted distribution centred in northern Australia and southern Papua New Guinea.Globally and according to the IUCN Red List, turtle populations are threatened, their statuses ranging from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered (see Table 1).Hence, it is increasingly important to have information on their distribution and occurrences, in order to carry out correct and precise habitat management.

General description
Purpose: To consolidate the list of species previously published in GBIF (Barcelos et al. 2022) presenting information on methodology and occurrence records.A general overview of the data used (COSTA, GBA-JPB and GBA-LB) can be seen in Fig. 2. All the database and additional information can be found in Barcelos and Barreiros (2022).
IUCN Red List classification of the six species present in Azores EEZ.Additional information: The information contained in Fig. 2 and in Suppl.material 1 refers to only four of the six species that occur in the Azores.This is due to the fact that both Lepidochelys kempii (Garman, 1880) and Eretmochelys imbricata (Linnaeus, 1766), were not found by any of the authors during the data collection.).The evaluators considered that the submitted proposal lists some significant policy integration opportunities with Azorean government using the portal as part of its conservation activities for protected areas, as well as for the sustainable management of biodiversity relating to agriculture, forestry and fisheries.This was the first Biodiversity Portal in Portugal, starting in 2008 and the only one which provides easy access to island biodiversity data (Borges et al. 2010).ABP is currently recognised as a valuable outreach, management and conservation tool for all who work in science and protection of biodiversity.The large number of visits per day, the numerous international scientific collaborations, resulting in publications and academic theses and the connection with other prestigious databases demonstrate the Portal's scientific quality as well as its general appeal.This project was initiated in 2008 under the leadership of researchers from the Azorean Biodiversity Group (CITA_A; currently cE3c -Azorean Biodiversity Group), based in the formerly Dept. of Agrarian Sciences (currently School of Agrarian & Environmental Sciences) in Terceira Island (Azores) and included also the collaboration with researchers from the CIBIO-Azores, based in the formerly Dept. of Biology of the Univ. of Azores (currently School of Sciences & Technology) and more recently researchers from OKEANUS-DOP in Horta.At this moment, the Portal is being funded by the Azorean Science Ministry (Azores PO 2020 -ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072).The main ABP action lines are to: improve the informatics system of the e-infrastructure to allow complex queries and improve user-friendliness; guarantee a rigorous classification for every species, providing updated comprehensive checklists, ensuring accuracy on the compilation of biogeographical information -this is the backbone of the Portal and all its products and services; provide innovative biodiversity analytical tools for both researchers and community members and invite them to contribute data to the Portal, establishing effective science communication.GBA-LB data were collected between 2007 and 2019, by the first author, during whale watching tours.

Project description
GBA-JPB data were collected during systematic tag/release of marine turtles since 1990.
Quality control: All persons involved on the handling of sea turtles are under permits issued by the Azores regional government.

Taxonomic coverage
Description: Sea Turtles

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Azores Archipelago location in the North Atlantic.

decimalLongitude
The geographic longitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in geodeticDatum) of the geographic centre of a Location.Positive values are east of the Greenwich Meridian, negative values are west of it.Legal values lie between -180 and 180, inclusive.decimalLatitude The geographic latitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in geodeticDatum) of the geographic centre of a Location.Positive values are north of the Equator, negative values are south of it.Legal values lie between -90 and 90, inclusive.geodeticDatum The ellipsoid, geodetic datum or spatial reference system (SRS) upon which the geographic coordinates given in decimalLatitude and decimalLongitude are based.coordinateUncertaintyInMetres The horizontal distance (in metres) from the given decimalLatitude and decimalLongitude describing the smallest circle containing the whole of the Location.country The name of the country or major administrative unit in which the Location occurs.countryCode The standard code for the country in which the Location occurs.islandGroup The name of the island group in which the Location occurs.establishmentMeans The process by which the biological individual(s) represented in the Occurrence became established at the location.
Funding: Funding Institutions: AZORESBIOPORTAL -PORBIOTA (Azores PO 2020 -ACORES-01-0145-FEDER-000072) TOTAL BUDGET: 299,901.83€EU Support: 254,916.56€.This project was financed by FEDER in 85% and by Azorean Public funds by 15% through Operational Program Azores 2020.This work is also funded by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 Programme and National Funds through FCT -Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the Research Infrastructure PORBIOTA -Portuguese E-Infrastructure for Information and Research on Biodiversity, project number POCI-01-0145-FEDER-022127.
Sampling description: Bycatch data from 2008 to 2010 were recorded by fisheries observers onboard Portuguese commercial longline vessels, under the framework of the EU FP7 project MADE, Mitigating adverse ecological impacts of open ocean fisheries.Bycatch data from 2016 to 2018 were recorded by fisheries observers onboard Portuguese commercial longline vessels, under the framework of COSTA project -Consolidating Sea Turtle Conservation in the Azores.Sea turtle data from 2017 to 2020 were recorded by Azorean whale watching companies and researchers from IMAR-Institute of Marine Research under the scope of the sea turtle tagging programme coordinated by the Cooperative Marine Turtle Tagging Program (CMTTP) and maintained by the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research (ACCSTR).
Checklist of the sea turtles recorded in the Azores Archipelago.Sea turtle (Reptilia, Testudines) diversity and occurrence in the Azores ...