Understanding animals' daily activity patterns such as foraging and resting is key to the effective conservation of individuals, populations, and species. Expanding habitat usage by humans today is likely one of the major factors influencing animal habitat use and behavior. Rapa Nui, a remote Chilean island located at the easternmost corner of the Polynesian Triangle, hosts a population of green turtles, Chelonia mydas, that have been monitored by citizen scientists since 2010. Through the collaborative work of divers from the local community and professional scientists, we describe C. mydas daily underwater resting and foraging patterns in Rapa Nui. We identified 15 individuals by monitoring 19 specific resting locations within the Rapa Nui coral reef. A high level of spatial fidelity for specific resting sites was observed in 12 turtles that used the same location for as long as 5 yrs. Moreover, we observed a clear temporal pattern in the daily use of resting habitats, with 79% of resting activity occurring during low tide. In contrast, the daily peak in feeding activity was associated with high tides. Abiotic characteristics (depth and cardinal orientation) of resting sites did not show significant relationships. The information from this study will inform management of the Rapa Nui Multiple Uses Coastal Marine Protected Area to increase the protection of marine turtles residing at this isolated Pacific Island.

This study identified and quantified in the field the natural predators of juvenile spiny lobster Jasus frontalis, an endemic, ecologically relevant species, and the most valuable local commercial catch of Robinson Crusoe Island. It also assessed the predation pressure that these predators exerted on juveniles lobsters and whether they showed preferences for particular body sizes within the juvenile size range. A series of tethering experiments were performed in three coastal sites of Robinson Crusoe Island (Juan Fernández archipelago. Chile). In overnight experiments, survival of juveniles decreased over time in all three sites, reaching ∼50% at the end of the experiment. The evidence suggests that fish were relevant predators since mortality of lobsters was proportional to their abundance. Although video surveillances depicted numerous octopus attacks, their abundance did not exhibit a statistically significant relationship with lobster mortality. Predatory events were not selective of juvenile sizes. These results are fundamental to understand one of the key factor (i.e., predation) that affects the juvenile (and more vulnerable) benthic phase of J. frontalis.

Salas y Gómez and Nazca are two adjacent ridges in the South Pacific consisting of over 110 seamounts, which host the highest levels of marine endemism on the planet and are global biodiversity hotspot. Due to these, both ridges are recognized as an “Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Area (EBSA)” by the Convention on Biological Diversity. Currently, this area faces multiple threats such as fishing and destructive fishing practices, marine debris, potential seabed mining, shipping, and climate change, while only a small fraction of it is protected. We assessed the potential impacts of a fishing closure within this EBSA on international fisheries, focusing on the South-Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO) and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC). The main fisheries resources in the EBSA are jumbo flying squid (Dosidicus gigas), tunas (Katsuwonus pelamis, Thunnus obesus, and T. albacares), and swordfish (Xiphias gladius). From 2019 to 2023 fishing effort in the EBSA remained low with an accumulated total of 4,241 h, which is 1.5% of the total apparent fishing activity. Dosidiscus gigas catches from 2011 to 2021 in the EBSA were ~4.3% in average for the SPRFMO high seas catches. Likewise, tuna and swordfish catch from 1990 to 2022 were < 1% and 6.21%, respectively, for the IATTC high seas catches. These results suggest that a fishing closure in the EBSA would have low economic impacts for international fisheries and substantial ecological benefits, including supporting species reproduction, nursey areas and migratory corridors protection, among others.