Instead of drifting with ocean currents, juvenile sea turtles make a concerted effort to swim in particular directions, according to a recent study’s findings.
Baby sea turtles disappear at sea for up to ten years and it was assumed that they spent those ‘lost years’ drifting. U.S. researchers used satellite tags to track 44 wild, juvenile sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico and compared their movement to floating buoys. The study, which was published in the journal Current Biology, showed that young turtles swim in particular directions instead of drifting with the ocean currents, according to BBC.
[quote text_size=”small” author=”– Dr Kate Mansfield” author_title=”Marine scientist and sea turtle biologist at University of Central Florida”]
This is the first study to release drifters with small, wild-caught yearling or neonate sea turtles in order to directly test the ‘passive drifter’ hypothesis in these young turtles.
[/quote]
It was very hard to catch these turtles because of the way they spent their young years, hidden in the sea depths. Sometimes a voyage of 60 miles or more off-shore yielded none of the animals at all, and at other times the research team was lucky finding several sea turtles.
[quote text_size=”small” author=”– Dr Nathan Putman” author_title=”Lead author of the study and sea turtle biologist with NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center in Miami”]
Some trips there’d be a patch of them – 10 little turtles all together. But it took a while to get the sample size that was needed.
[/quote]
When the drifter tracks were compared to the sea turtles’ movements, the researchers found that the turtles’ paths differed significantly from the passive drifters, according to NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center. Some turtles were set on going east and others were very convinced that they should be swimming north.
Animals are indeed magnificent creatures. Just a few days ago Immortal News covered a story about pet goldfish who ‘took over’ the Colorado Lake and threaten native fish.
