<
https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20241001-how-satellites-are-mapping-the-future-of-turtle-conservation>
'In early June 2024, Donna Shello, an adult female leatherback turtle, was
hanging out on a sandy beach along the Caribbean coast of Panama. After laying
about 80 eggs, and with a satellite transmitter attached to her back, she was
ready to start competing in the Tour de Turtles, an intense oceanic "marathon"
organised by the Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC), a US non-profit. This year, she
is up against seven other leatherback females, and the winner will be the one
who swims the longest distance.
"[Donna Shello] is at least 20 years old, but may be as old as 80 to 90," says
Daniel Evans, a research biologist working at the STC. "There is currently no
way to age a live sea turtle."
Although the "competition" only lasts three months, a full migration from
nesting season to the next nesting season could take two years. From what they
know so far, she has been laying between 70 and 90 eggs each time she nests,
and could be nesting between four and seven times in a nesting season. "Based
on three nesting seasons, she could have laid between 840 and 1,890 eggs since
we first encountered her nesting in 2020," says Evans.
The STC has been tracking sea turtles for more than 20 years, monitoring their
movements and migration patterns. Last year, a loggerhead turtle ventured
further north than they had ever tracked before.
"Turtles are now going places that they didn't commonly go to," says Evans. "We
are seeing them expand their range, exploring new areas that they either
weren't able to before or didn't have a preference for."
Most species of sea turtles are temperature sensitive, so the areas of the
ocean they can travel to are limited. "These [loggerhead] adults going that far
north is an indicator that the temperature of those waters has increased and
are now more comfortable for these turtles to survive in," Evans adds.'
Via
Positive.News
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
