SEA TURTLES ARE ENDANGERED OR THREATENED IN NEARLY EVERY OCEAN BASIN OF THE WORLD.
THEY SPEND MOST OF THEIR LIVES AT SEA.
BUT LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE YEARS BETWEEN WHEN
THEY HATCH AND REACH FULL MATURITY.
A NEW STUDY MAY HELP UNLOCK THIS MYSTERY.
I SAT DOWN WITH VOA'S ROSEANNE SKIRBLE TO TALK ABOUT THE LATEST RESEARCH, AND HOW IT
MAY HELP SCIENTISTS BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT
SEA TURTLES NEED
TO SURVIVE.
THEY DID A LOT OF TESTING AND IT HAD TO BE JUST RIGHT.
AND SO WHAT THEY DID IS THEY GLUED ON THESE TAGS, AND HOW DID THEY DO THAT?
THEY EXPERIMENTED AND FINALLY THEY
FIGURED OUT-- THE SHALLOW THE TURTLE IS THE SAME AS WHAT YOUR NAILS ARE MADE OF - SO THE
GLUE ARE THE ACRYLIC FOR WHAT YOU USE TO PUT YOUR FAKE NAILS ON IS THE SAME THING
THEY USE TO KEEP THESE LITTLE TAGS ON.
THAT IS TOO FUNNY.
VERY INTERESTING.
NOW WHAT DID WE FIND OUT FROM THE STUDY ABOUT THE TURTLES AND THEIR LIFECYCLE?
WELL ONCE THEY GOT INTO THE OCEAN, THEY FOLLOW THEM BETWEEN 20 AND 220 DAYS - 27 TO 220 DAYS
TO BE EXACT.
AND WITH A SAW IS THEY BASICALLY WENT IN A CIRCULAR YOU KNOW ROUND
AND ROUND AND ROUND THE ATLANTIC FROM THE TIP OF FLORIDA TO THE EASTERN UNITED STATES.
SOME 4300 KM THAT THESE LITTLE GUYS WENT.
THEY FOUND OUT THAT THEY DIDN'T KIND OF
STAY WITHIN THESE BASIC CURRENTS.
THEY WENT INSIDE THE CURRENTS TO WHAT THEY CALL THE SARGASSO SEA.
THE SARGASSO SEA TURNS OUT TO BE A POPULAR REFUGE WHERE YOUNG TURTLES CAN FORAGE AND
FIND SHELTER IN THE MATS OF SEAWEED.
MANSFIELD SAYS IDENTIFYING CRITICAL HABITATS LIKE
THE SARGASSO SEA IS AN IMPORTANT STEP FOR WILDLIFE PROTECTION.
"PERHAPS THIS HABITAT, EVEN THOUGH IT IS VERY TRANSIENT AND IT MOVES AND DRIFTS WITH OCEAN
CURRENTS, IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO CONSIDER AS PROTECTION FOR THE
ANIMALS."
AND YOU TALK ABOUT THIS IDEA OF PROTECTION AND WE KNOW THESE TURTLES ARE ENDANGERED SO
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THREATS THAT THEY FACE?
WELL THE LARGEST THREAT IS THE THREAT OF THE LOSS OF HABITAT.
BOTH ON LAND AND APPARENTLY ON SEA.
THE SARGASSO SEA IS A NEW...
THE SCIENTIST DIDN'T QUITE KNOW THEY WERE GOING
- OR THEY COULDN'T PROVE THAT THEY WERE GOING THERE.
SO IF CONSERVATIONIST CAN THINK OF THIS AS ANOTHER PLACE TO PROTECT THE TURTLES AND PERHAPS
THE TURTLES CAN HAVE A
LONGER LIFESPAN.
OF COURSE AND WHAT IS THERE FULL LIFESPAN?
YOU SAID 20 TO 30 YEARS IS WHEN THEY MATURE BUT DO WE KNOW HOW LONG THEY CAN LIVE?
WELL I THINK THEY CAN OUTLIVE HUMANS FOR SURE NOW THAT THEY'VE GOT THIS TAG PROBLEM FIGURED
OUT, THEY WANT TO FIGURE OUT WELL HOW CAN THEY HAVE THIS TEXT TO GOING EVEN
LONGER.
NOW REMEMBER THE TURTLE IS GROWING AND GROWING AND GROWING UNTIL IT GETS TO BE ABOUT 1 1/2
M WHEN IT FINALLY GETS BACK TO....
WOW, IT'S A BIG DIFFERENCE FROM A LITTLE PALM OF YOUR HAND.
PALM OF YOUR HAND TO 1 1/2 M WHEN HE GETS BACK TO MATE AND LAY ITS EGGS.
AND THEY ALWAYS BASICALLY COME BACK TO THE SAME SPOT.
THE VIDEO THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT IS VIDEO
FROM BRAZIL WITH THE SCIENTISTS ARE NOW WORKING.
RIGHT, BECAUSE THEY'RE MOVING ON.
THEIR MOVING ONTO OTHER OCEAN BASINS BECAUSE THE TURTLES ARE NOT JUST ENDANGERED ON THE
EAST COAST OF UNITED STATES.
THIS IS A WORLDWIDE PROBLEM.
AND OUR THANKS TO ROSANNE SKIRBLE.
WE WANT TO ADD THAT BECAUSE THESE TURTLES' TRACKING DEVICES ARE SOLAR POWERED, THEY ARE
ALSO SMALLER ... MEANING THE RESEARCHERS COULD
PUT THEM ON THEM ON THE BACKS OF MUCH YOUNGER, SMALLER TURTLES, WHICH ENABLED THIS STUDY
TO HAPPEN.
AMAZING.