Solving Turtle Life Mysteries (Lea Emery)

MSNBC (New York, New York) 12/14/10

The mystery surrounding what turtles do while offshore waiting to lay their clutch is one step closer to being cracked.

Rangers at the Mon Repos Conservation Park Research Station fixed a satellite tracking device to a loggerhead turtle yesterday in hope of find out more about what they did at sea.

Dr Col Limpus, chief scientist for marine biology and freshwater ecology with the Department of Environment and Resource Management, said the tracking device would send back information about where the turtle was between laying clutches.

"We know a lot about which beaches the turtles prefer and what they do on the beach but not much about what happens while they are out at sea," he said.

The turtle tagged has already laid two clutches this season and is expected to lay another one or two.

Dr Limpus said the tracking device would allow researchers to look at how artificial light on shore affected turtles while they were at sea.

"One of the issues for sea turtles is that they prefer dark beaches," he said.

"We have seen over the 30 or 40 years we have been studying them that their movement on the beaches has changed in parallel to the increase in light."

The cost of tracking a turtle with a satellite tag can be quite expensive with the device priced at $5000 and the cost of getting the information from the satellite about $3000.

"It is expensive but the quality of information we get is invaluable," he said.

Bundaberg Brewed Drinks has come on board to help out, officially sponsoring the tracking of the loggerhead.

This year researchers will be tracking two turtles with a satellite tracker and hope to trace another group with a new type of tracking device.

"The satellite device sends the data directly to us," Dr Limpus said. "But with the new device we cannot get the data until we get the tracker back off the turtle."

From: Herp Digest,
Volume # 10 Issue # 55