Spatial Density of Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) Nest Sites Does Not Impact Overall Survivorship

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Unlike the egg laying behaviors of other sea turtle species, some populations of Olive Ridley Sea Turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) and the lone population of Kemp Ridley Sea Turtles (Lepidochelys kempii) lay their eggs during synchronous breeding events called arribadas. There are two potential benefits for arribada behaviors: 1. Arribadas may provide opportunities to find mates leading to greater mating success and genetic diversity among offspring, and 2. Synchronous egg laying may satiate predation of offspring. In this project, we tested the latter hypothesis. We observed solitary and arribada nesting females to determine if the mothers spatially clump their nests together and to determine if higher density of nests influenced their likelihood of being predated. We hypothesized a clumped distribution of nests for solitary nesters would occur. We also hypothesized nests that were most closely clumped with other nests would have a decrease in survivorship. Density did not have a statistically significant effect on the success or failure of the nests after the first day, and nest location did not follow a clumped distribution, and is to be considered random at Playa Ostional for solitary and arribada layers.