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Photo

Tagging tiny ocean travellers

Jeanette Wyneken is testing the use of different types of satellite tags on baby sea turtles to understand where they go after hatching.

Hatchling leatherback turtles, just a few hours after emerging, are brought to the Florida Atlantic University Marine Laboratory where they are examined before joining the study colony The goal is to return some of these hatchlings to the wild with satellite tags to see where they go. © Photo by Michael Scholl | Save Our Seas Foundation
While in the lab, the young turtles are marked to identify individuals and housed in floating baskets to allow healthy growth and prevent fighting. © Photo by Michael Scholl | Save Our Seas Foundation
Drs Kate Mansfield and Jeanette Wyneken look in on turtles with different adhesives on their shells Identifying the right adhesive is a key part of successfully fitting baby turtles with satellite tags. © Photo by Michael Scholl | Save Our Seas Foundation
Jeanette and Kate consider the challenges and opportunities that neonate green turtles present for tagging Their slick shells make them a challenge – but not too big a challenge for this tenacious duo!. © Photo by Michael Scholl | Save Our Seas Foundation
Leatherback turtles need very different tank conditions to other sea turtle species Juvenile leatherbacks are kept on tethers because they do not recognise tank barriers. © Photo by Michael Scholl | Save Our Seas Foundation
Jeanette has to decide which turtles are strong enough to raise in the lab for satellite tagging These two are small and not as strong as others; they will be released in a few hours. © Photo by Michael Scholl | Save Our Seas Foundation
Leatherbacks have unique colouration Their top shells are black with white lines and their bottom shells have black lines The baby turtle on the right is a straggler leatherback that didn’t completely hydrate and unfold after coming out of the egg The turtle on the left is normal. © Photo by Michael Scholl | Save Our Seas Foundation
A PhD student, Jake Lasala, measures the width of a leatherback hatchling Length, width and body depth are standard measures taken for each turtle and they serve a similar purpose to measuring fork length and girth of sharks and other fish. © Photo by Michael Scholl | Save Our Seas Foundation
This leatherback, like its siblings, was prepared for collection of a small sample of blood to identify its father We can infer knowledge about the numbers of breeding male leatherbacks by conducting genetic analyses of offspring and then ‘subtracting’ the part of the hatchling genome that came from nesting females that were sampled earlier in the season Several studies have shown that the turtles tolerate this sampling well, so they are released later the same night. © Photo by Michael Scholl | Save Our Seas Foundation
These three leatherback hatchlings are awaiting release They are stragglers left behind in the nest after their clutch-mates emerged They will get a chance to use their huge flippers later when they are taken for release. © Photo by Michael Scholl | Save Our Seas Foundation