{
  "abstract": "The mechanisms underlying the transition of juvenile sea turtles from oceanic to neritic habitats remain poorly understood, as the oceanic stage is rarely observed directly. Here, we report a 201‐day satellite track of a juvenile hawksbill turtle ( Eretmochelys imbricata , curved carapace length of 38 cm) that traveled 9129 km from the Mozambique Channel to Huvadhu Atoll, Maldives. Current reanalysis data indicate that 74% of this distance resulted from passive transport by regional ocean currents. However, upon approaching within 50 km of the atoll, the turtle showed a marked, active course correction, swimming against weak currents while positioned downwind and downstream of the atoll, a low‐lying landform (~1 m above sea level) that would have been invisible by eye at such a distance. This pattern raises the possibility of olfactory detection of the atoll and provides, to our knowledge, a first indication of olfactory‐based island detection guiding habitat recruitment in a juvenile turtle, a mechanism previously documented only in breeding females. This track suggests a potential two‐scale process of oceanic‐to‐neritic habitat transition: a broadly stochastic oceanic phase shaped by passive dispersal, followed by fine‐scale, sensory‐guided settlement once the turtle nears a suitable habitat.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Centre d'Étude et de découverte des Tortues Marines (CEDTM) Saint‐Leu La Réunion France",
    "Mercator Ocean International Toulouse France",
    "MARBEC University of Montpellier, CNRS, Ifremer, and IRD Sète France"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Antoine Laforge",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2748-6429"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Phillipe Gaspar"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Jérôme Bourjea"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Manon Nivière"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Katia Ballorain"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e13d77b9w9gxv.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1002/ece3.74475",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13722538/?tool=EBI",
  "id": "e13d77b9w9gxv",
  "issns": [
    "2045-7758",
    "2045-7758"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.74475",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Nature Notes"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Spatial Ecology"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.74475",
  "pmcid": "PMC13722538",
  "pmid": "42966933",
  "published": "2026-10-30",
  "publisher": "Wiley",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e13d77b9w9gxv.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:21:23Z",
      "native_id": "10.1002/ece3.74475",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.74475"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-02T03:21:51Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13722538",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13722538"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T12:21:21Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13722538",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.74475"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "issn:2045-7758",
      "subfield": "ecology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "From Passive Drift to Olfactory Detection? A Late‐Stage Oceanic Juvenile Hawksbill's 9000‐km Journey Across the Western Indian Ocean",
  "title_text": "From Passive Drift to Olfactory Detection? A Late‐Stage Oceanic Juvenile Hawksbill's 9000‐km Journey Across the Western Indian Ocean",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-04T12:21:21Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e13d77b9w9gxv",
  "venue": "Ecology and Evolution",
  "versions": []
}