Study On Deep Sea Turtles Show Interesting Results
January 20th, 2011 - 8:29 pm ICT by GDBy Ranjan Bhaduri
Jan 20, (THAINDIAN NEWS) A group of scientists performed a study on 25 leatherback turtles for a period of 5 years and the female turtle named Darwinia has turned out to be the deepest diving sea turtle in the study. The scientists fitted each of the turtles with a transmitter on the back which was powered by lithium ion batteries. The transmitter used to send signal to the satellite receiver whenever the turtles swam on the surface of the water of the ocean. The scientists were amazed to discover that some of these turtles covered a whopping distance of 10,000 miles a year and in the process migrated to South Coast of USA from Africa in Ocean.
The study also revealed that not all of these turtles followed the same route. The details on these turtles, their lives and migration route etc were published on a reputed nature magazine. Sadly the leatherback turtles are being threatened by increasing fishing activities and their numbers are dwindling over the years. A lot of the turtles end up getting entangled in fishermen’s nets and lose their lives thereafter. A number of environmentalists and biologists have raised their voice against the practices that are endangering the sea turtle population.
What may seem like an alarming statistics to animal scientists, almost 98% of the leatherback turtles have simply disappeared from Pacific Ocean in the last few decades. If adequate preventive measures are not taken now, the turtle species may soon join the league of extinct marine animal species. The scientists have reasons to believe that only some hundred female turtles survive now.
- Global warming forces seals deeper into ocean - Feb 13, 2012
- Scientists to track journeys of two marine turtles around world's oceans - Dec 24, 2009
- Mexico says 42 mn turtles born in 2010-11 nesting season - Dec 22, 2011
- Epic ocean-spanning journeys of gigantic leatherback turtles revealed - Jan 05, 2011
- How leatherbacks make epic voyages in straight lines - Jan 06, 2011
- Rare turtle travels 7,000 km to breed! - Jun 19, 2009
- Ice-age reptile extinctions shed light on responses to climate change - Dec 10, 2010
- 300 bits of plastic found inside dead turtle - Jul 01, 2011
- Leatherback turtles are right flippered when it comes to laying eggs - Nov 12, 2009
- How young migrating turtles find their way back home - Feb 25, 2011
- Wildlife institute to monitor Olive Ridley Turtles in Orissa - Jun 09, 2010
- China submersible to attempt 7,000-meter dive - Jun 03, 2012
- New species discovered in Atlantic Ocean - Jul 07, 2010
- Deadly toxins in shark fin soup linked to Alzheimer's - Feb 24, 2012
- Britain's beaches 'drowning in plastic' - Mar 26, 2010
Tags: alarming statistics, animal scientists, animal species, darwinia, environmentalists, extinct marine animal, female turtle, female turtles, leatherback, leatherback turtles, lithium ion batteries, nature magazine, preventive measures, satellite receiver, sea turtle, sea turtle population, sea turtles, study also revealed that, surface of the water, turtle species