Tracking Hawksbills in Kuwait: Contributions To Regional Behavioral Insights

Hawksbill turtles from nesting areas in the south of the Arabian/Persian Gulf have been shown to migrate to numerous individual foraging sites across the region and undertake “summer migration loops” (SMLs) to avoid the most extreme sea temperatures. We tracked hawksbills nesting in Kuwait (n = 4) that migrated to hitherto undescribed foraging sites but showed no evidence of SMLs despite experiencing water temperatures greater than 33°C. Increasing the sample size for Kuwait turtles, tracking males, and publishing results from other important hawksbill nesting areas in Saudi Arabia are recommended to get a fuller indication of potential behavioral plasticity in the region.