Sea turtle leaves electronic “tracks”
Tagged loggerhead released in Gulf Stream.
A young sea turtle the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores recently released is keeping in touch as it gets acquainted with its new home, the Atlantic Ocean.
Aquarium staff tagged the loggerhead with a transmitter that uses satellite technology similar to the Global Positioning System (GPS), to periodically pinpoint the turtle’s location. Staff and researchers can monitor turtle’s movements.
Thanks to the Internet, the public also can follow the turtle’s travels. “Its accessibility makes this program an extraordinary educational tool,” said Pat McNeese, the Aquarium’s Research and Conservation Coordinator.
The website, Seaturtle.org, provides a tracking center for sea turtles and other marine animals from around the world, free of charge. The recently released turtle is listed by the name of “Chestnut” on the tracking site.
Tagging efforts such as this could provide information useful in developing protection plans, McNeese said. Aquarium staff and researchers can learn more about the turtle population that nests on local beaches, more about the behavior of young turtles and more about the behavior of sea turtles that have been raised in an aquarium environment and released.
Supporters can help advance the research work by “adopting” Chestnut. Half the sponsorship fees go to the North Carolina Aquarium Society to pay for new transmitting devices, and the rest helps support the turtle tracking website.
The turtle was released offshore in the Gulf Stream on Aug. 12, thanks to help from Discovery Diving. The three-year-old had been in the Aquarium’s care since it was rescued as a stressed hatchling from Bogue Banks in 2006. It most recently had been on exhibit in the Queen Anne’s Revenge. The Aquarium annually cares for weak hatchlings. Most are released as soon as they regain strength, but a few stay at the Aquarium for up to three years.
This was the fourth tagged turtle released by the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. The three North Carolina Aquariums together have had a part in tagging 10 other sea turtles since 2005.
The transmitters, about five inches long, are affixed to the shell with epoxy. A saltwater cutoff switch deactivates the device when the turtles dive, prolonging battery life. The lightweight, streamlined mechanisms have minimal effect on the turtles’ maneuverability, and eventually fall off after transmitting for up to a year.
Visitors to the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores can observe rescued sea turtle hatchlings in the Loggerhead Odyssey exhibit. A green sea turtle also currently inhabits the Living Shipwreck.