TURTLE VOYAGERS

Abstract

All photos by Rebecca Scott. Adult sea turtles return to the beach where they were born to lay their eggs. After breeding, the migrations of sea turtles to their feeding habitats are now routinely documented with satellite tracking technology, which has revealed a huge diversity in migration strategies and foraging habitat selection. Hatchling sea turtles embark on their first journeys by drifting with surface ocean currents, which can be studied using ocean models and drifter buoy data. By comparing global patterns in the migrations of satellite-tracked sea turtles with hatchling drift patterns, adult migrations/foraging habitat selections were shown to be directly influenced by their experiences as hatchlings. If hatchlings drift to a good coastal site, they later swim there as adults, but if not, the adults do not migrate or feed in the open ocean. This new understanding of how endangered sea turtles choose their habitats and migration routes may inform more effective conservation strategies.