Scientists solve the mystery of sea turtles' 'lost years' Using satellite trackers, scientists have discovered the whereabouts of young sea turtles during a key part of their lives.
Steering small boats, they looked for young turtles drifting among algae in the Gulf of Mexico, eventually tagging 114 animals – including endangered green turtles, loggerheads, hawksbills and Kemp’s ridleys.
The findings give biologists a better idea of how young turtles use the Gulf of Mexico, a critical region for four species of endangered sea turtles.
“We’ve had massive data gaps about the early baby to toddler life stages of sea turtles,” said Kate Mansfield, a marine scientist at the University of Central Florida.
Eventually the GPS tags slough off because “the outside of a young turtle’s shell sheds as they grow very quickly,” said Katrina Phillips, a marine ecologist at the University of Central Florida and co-author of the new study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
