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Using satellite transmitters, the North Carolina Aquariums and other members of the research team will be trying to solve a small piece of the mystery about the effects of cold-stunning. This two-year project will track fourteen juvenile, cold-stunned loggerheads after they are rehabilitated and released back to the wild.

A small (198 g) satellite transmitter (Wildlife Computers SPOT 2 tag) will be attached to each loggerhead before it is released. The transmitter records latitude and longitude coordinates, and water temperature as the turtle migrates. Each time the turtle surfaces to breathe, the transmitter's antennae will break the water's surface allowing data to be sent to an orbiting satellite. The data will then be sent to a receiving station in Largo, MD and then onto us at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island.

Loggerhead Turtle
A Transmitter is attached to a Loggerhead

Researchers hope to learn more about migration patterns, evaluate current rehabilitation techniques and form partnerships with educators to share the data for classroom use. Hopefully this cooperative effort will allow for research, education and conservation to solve a few of the many loggerhead mysteries! Now that you've been introduced to the project, let's meet the research team.

Since 2000, NC Aquarium staff and NEST volunteers have worked together to rehabilitate more than 40 sea turtles stranded along the NC coast. The most common species are loggerhead and green sea turtles, but Kemp's ridley and hawksbill sea turtles can also be found stranded on NC beaches.

Common causes of sea turtle stranding include traumatic injury, entanglement, ingestion of debris, gastrointestinal (GI) obstruction, buoyancy disorders, and cold-stun or hypothermia.

It's important that all injured animals receive proper treatment by trained personnel. The NC Aquarium and NEST volunteers are permitted by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission to rehabilitate sick and injured sea turtles.

All sea turtles are protected under the Endangered Species Act, 1973. It is illegal to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, capture, or collect sea turtle eggs, hatchlings, adults, and body parts. Violators can be prosecuted under Civil and Criminal laws and be assessed heavy penalties. Please report all stranded sea turtles (live or dead) to the proper local authorities!