Photo: New England Aquarium
BOSTON (WBZNewsRadio) - Researchers with the New England Aquarium are currently tracking more than a dozen rehabilitated sea turtles tagged earlier this year. It's the highest number of turtle the organization has ever tagged in a single release year and we've still got a couple months before the new year.
Every year, researchers rehabilitate hundreds of turtles, several of which are tagged and tracked. These tagged turtles are added to a live map on the Aquarium's website, allowing the public to watch the turtle's journey in real-time.
“Our team cares for hundreds of cold-stunned sea turtles every year, and we hope we have set them up for success in their natural habitat when they are released. Satellite tagging data gives us a glimpse into their lives after leaving our Sea Turtle Hospital and helps confirm for us that our rehabilitation efforts are working,” said Adam Kennedy, Director of Rescue and Rehabilitation at the Aquarium.
This year, eight Kemp's ridleys and six green sea turtles were tagged.
Of the 14 tagged turtles, nine stayed in the waters off the coast of Massachusetts, while one swamp to Rhode Island and another four ventured to the Long Island Sound.
“Monitoring the turtles after their rehabilitation is critical, since their stories don’t end at release. Satellite tags tell us if they survive and demonstrate typical behavior for their species. This helps us measure the true conservation impact of our conservation work. We also know almost nothing about habitat-use of most sea turtles in New England, especially Kemp’s ridleys and greens, so our data is filling that gap,” said Dr. Kara Dodge, a research scientist in the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium.
Dr. Dodge said researchers have also been focusing on just how much time turtles spend at the surface of the water, which can help scientists gage the risk of vessel strikes and the animal's general visibility on the water's surface.
"Spoiler alert: the greens and Kemp’s ridleys spend almost no time at the surface, which explains why they’re rarely seen before hundreds strand on Cape Cod beaches in November and December,” Dodge said.
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