| Abstract: | The locomotor behavior of each of seven hatchlings with and 36 without prior swimming experience was monitored during 24 hours by a computerized electronic technique. Velocity, distance traveled, frequency of turns and their magnitudes, length and orientation of straight paths between turns, and the interrelationships over time between these variables were measured. Of the magnitudes of the mean values of the parameters measured, only straight path length was significantly different between animals with and without previous swimming experience, but the distributions of the values of each parameter over time were very different. The locomotor behavior of turtles during their Initial 10-11 hours of swimming was greatly different from that of hatchlings with prior swimming experience. The first-hour values of the swimming-naive group were extremely high and were followed by a strong decreasing trend over the subsequent 10 hours, after which the values leveled off. This highly characteristic 11-hour decreasing trend in locomotor values was seen in all 33 active naive-to-swimming hatchlings, whereas, none of the seven swimming-experienced hatchlings displayed this behavior. The initial high values of all locomotor parameters, except step length, are interpreted as adaptive behavior decreasing predation immediately following entry into the sea. The downward trend in these values after the first hour, and lasting for about 10 additional hours, probably parallels a decrease in predation as the surviving hatchlings become more dispersed at increased distances from shore.. |
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