Tagging turtles

Researchers have tagged two juvenile loggerhead turtles with satellite-linked tags and followed them and other non-tagged loggerheads in a remotely operated vehicle (ROV).

“The most commonly caught sea turtles are juvenile loggerheads,” Heather Haas of NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) laboratory in the US, said. "Understanding their behaviors at sea, such as where they go in the water column and when, could help us reduce their chances of getting caught in nets and dredges.”

The team from the NEFSC captured the turtles and attached the data loggers, which log and store data, to the turtles’ shells. Data is relayed back to the lab via satellite when the animals are at the ocean's surface.

Loggerhead turtles are the most common sea turtle in US coastal waters. They are currently a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The current project is being funded by the NOAA Fisheries Service and the Atlantic sea scallop fishing industry.

“The commercial scallop industry understands the importance of this research and has been very supportive of our efforts to understand and reduce turtle bycatch,” said Henry Milliken of the NEFSC. “There is still a lot to learn about turtle behavior. Knowing more would improve our ability to reduce bycatch and estimate turtle distribution and abundance. The tags and the ROV images will provide some insights, but are only the start.”

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