As she grew older, Veelenturf began to recognize the gap between environmental policy and the direct implementation of such policies. Wanting to bridge the divide, she set out to work in the field and conduct research that could make a difference at a political level by contributing to the creation of new conservation policies.

In 2019, Veelenturf launched her own nonprofit organization, The Leatherback Project, to address the issues threatening turtles and ocean ecosystems. After searching for NGOs (non-governmental organizations) to join that would support her vision for combatting threats to leatherbacks at sea and taking a rights-based approach, she realized that there were none. Determined to be a voice for the species, she decided to create her own nonprofit and advocate for the implementation of science-led, high-impact conservation measures and laws designed to establish the rights of this endangered species and ecosystems. Veelenturf knew that leatherbacks could act as flagship species, meaning that by discussing the threats facing their survival, she could draw attention to many of the most pressing threats facing the ocean today.

And the hard work and dedication to conservation efforts is being recognized around the globe.

In addition to being named one of the 2024 Future for Nature Award winners, the University of Rhode Island College of Life Science 2024 10 Under 10 Awardee and The Explorers Club 2024 New Explorer of the Year for her work in exploring new legal pathways to protect Nature as a scientist, her work has been featured on the front page of the Washington Post, and on CBS News, and in Smithsonian Magazine.

Veelenturf was also recognized by the United Nations Development Program Ocean Innovation Challenge as one of the 2022 winners and award recipients. Additionally, she鈥檚 been named a 2020 National Geographic Early Career Leader, a Scientist with the United Nations Harmony with Nature Programme, a Mission Blue Hope Spot Champion, a Fellow and United Nations Youth Representative for The Explorers Club, and one of the 2023 Ocean Youth Leaders of the year through the Sustainable Ocean Alliance.

Veelentuf now leads a team of scientists, local community members, storytellers, and students championing the conservation of leatherbacks and other threatened and endangered marine life through community empowerment, research and advocacy. Their work led to the passing of Panama鈥檚 Right of Nature Law 287 in 2022, which can inspire the passage of such laws in other nations around the world.

She鈥檚 also conducting research in Kate Mansfield鈥檚 while working towards her Ph.D. in Integrative and Conservation Biology at 麻豆原创. Her strong desire to work with Mansfield was the primary reason she came to the university. Veelenturf, a native of Norfolk, Massachusetts, says she wanted to learn from the best and collaborate with someone equally passionate about marine conservation.

鈥淭he ocean is the largest ecosystem in the world, so preserving marine life to protect the seas is a vital effort,鈥� Veelenturf says. 鈥淭oday, one of the greatest threats to the marine ecosystems is fisheries bycatch, which is the unintentional capture of marine animals that are not the target species of a commercial fishing operation. It is a paramount issue, causing problems for both sea creatures and industrial fishermen alike and often results in the unnecessary deaths of marine life.鈥�

One species most impacted by bycatch is the leatherback sea turtle, which is Veelenturf鈥檚 primary research focus. She aims to ideate creative solutions to complex environmental problems, including through the recognition of the legal intrinsic rights of these animals and their coastal and open ocean habitats. Without drastic measures, certain subpopulations of the leatherback turtle are in danger of becoming functionally extinct.

Over the years, Veelenturf has conducted marine research and advocacy in various countries around the globe, including Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, Equatorial Guinea and Costa Rica. Through a National Geographic Society Early Career Grant awarded in 2019, she became a National Geographic Explorer and initiated a pilot project to study sea turtles in the Pearl Islands Archipelago of Panama. She has since gone on to be a Scientist with the United Nations Harmony with Nature Programme, support numerous international conservation organizations, and serve as an advisor to various governments fighting for the Rights of Nature.

Veelenturf completed her bachelor鈥檚 degree in marine biology with a minor in wildlife conservation from the University of Rhode Island and her master鈥檚 in biology from Purdue University.

The disease, known as fibropapillomatosis, or FP, causes sea turtles to develop tumors on their bodies, which can limit their mobility and also their health by interfering with their ability to catch and eat prey.

While the cause of FP isn鈥檛 known, saltwater leeches have been suspected to play a role due to their frequent presence on areas of sea turtles where FP tumors often develop, such as on their eyes, mouths and flippers.

The results, which were published recently in the journal , are the first evidence of a significant association between leeches and the disease in sea turtles, according to the researchers.

鈥淔lorida is one of the areas most heavily impacted by FP,鈥� says Anna Savage, an associate professor in 麻豆原创鈥檚 and study co-author. 鈥淥ver the past three decades, approximately half of the green turtle juveniles encountered in the Indian River Lagoon have FP tumors, which is one of the highest rates documented,鈥� she says.

Sea turtle health is important because the ancient marine reptiles contribute to healthy oceans and coastlines by grazing and maintaining sea grass beds.

All sea turtles are categorized as threatened or endangered because of threats from pollution, coastal development and fishing, in addition to infectious diseases.

Central Florida鈥檚 Atlantic coastline hosts about one-third of all green turtle nests in the state and is one of the most important nesting areas in the world for loggerheads.

Knowing if leeches play a role in the disease transmission can help researchers better understand and predict its spread, as well as inform conservation actions, such as leech removal in sea turtle rehabilitation centers.

The Process

The study鈥檚 lead author and a recent undergraduate alumna of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Biology Department, Leah Rittenburg, spearheaded the research and was responsible for the genetic analyses.

To find out a possible connection between leeches and FP, the researchers documented the presence of leeches on green and loggerhead turtles captured from the Indian River Lagoon and also used genetic analyses to determine if leeches collected from the turtles contained chelonid alphaherpesvirus 5, or ChHV5, the virus most likely responsible for disease development in an individual turtle.

鈥淥ur historical data, collected by the between 2006 and 2018, revealed that leech parasitism was significantly associated with FP in green turtles but not in loggerhead turtles,鈥� Rittenburg says.

鈥淔or the genetic analysis, about one-fifth of the leeches we collected were positive for ChHV5, and one leech species trended towards coming from FP-positive turtles, further supporting the hypothesis that leeches may act as ChHV5 transmitters,鈥� she says.

Now that the researchers have demonstrated a relationship between FP and leeches, they want to evaluate more specifically if leeches transmit the turtle herpesvirus, which would provide stronger evidence that the virus in an underlying cause of FP.

Study co-authors were Jake R. Kelley, a master鈥檚 student in 麻豆原创鈥檚 Department of Biology, and Kate L. Mansfield, an associate professor in 麻豆原创鈥檚 Department of Biology and director of the 麻豆原创 Marine Turtle Research Group.

The research was funded by grants from 麻豆原创鈥檚 and by a Florida Sea Turtle License Plate grant.

Savage received her doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology from Cornell University. She is a member of 麻豆原创鈥檚聽Genomics and Bioinformatics Cluster聽and joined 麻豆原创鈥檚 Department of Biology, part of 麻豆原创鈥檚聽College of Sciences, in 2015.

The number of green sea turtle nests on central and southern Brevard County, Florida beaches monitored by 麻豆原创 biologists were way up during a year they should have been down based on nearly 40 years of historical data.

鈥淯sually, green turtles alternate between high years and low years, but this year they defied expectations,鈥� says Chris Long, a doctoral candidate and research assistant with 鈥淕reen turtles had the fifth highest year on the Archie Carr Refuge that we鈥檝e recorded since 1982. There is no evidence pointing to high nesting as a result of fewer people on the beaches or anything pandemic-related like that.聽 It鈥檚 difficult to know why nesting differed from expectation.鈥�

East-Central Florida鈥檚 coastline (from Brevard to Indian River County) is among the most important nesting areas in the world for loggerhead sea turtles, and it also hosts about one-third of all green turtle nests in the state. The region is at the northern end of a 鈥渉otspot鈥� for leatherbacks, which nest on the local beaches at a smaller scale as well. All sea turtles in the U.S. are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

麻豆原创 has run a sea turtle monitoring and research program on the beaches of the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge (ACNWR) 聽in southern Brevard County for more than 35 years. 麻豆原创 findings about sea turtle abundance and behavior are among the reasons the refuge was created in 1991. The 麻豆原创 Marine Turtle Research Group focuses on long-term nesting beach and coastal juvenile sea turtle research in Brevard and Indian River counties locally. The group also studies the oceanic 鈥渓ost years鈥� tracking turtles in the Gulf of Mexico, North and South Atlantic, and Indian Oceans.

All sea turtles saw an increase in nests along the coastline this year compared to recent years. Here鈥檚 a look at the numbers recorded by the 麻豆原创 Marine Turtle Research Group鈥檚 covering the 13 northernmost miles of the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge. Final counts won鈥檛 be tallied until Oct. 31:

Green turtle nests:

• 2020: 8,110 (unexpectedly high for a “low year”)
• 2019: 15,784 (record, “high year”)
• 2018: 1,230 (typical “low year”)

Loggerhead nests:

• 2020: 12,968
• 2019: 10,813
• 2018: 11,901

Leatherback nests:

• 2020: 40
• 2019: 36
• 2018: 17
• Note: there are no clear trends in local leatherback counts; the highest recorded total nests was 55 in 2016.

In 2016 the university and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reached an agreement that established a permanent research facility at the refuge. 麻豆原创 biologists and students use the facility as a base from which they do most of their coastal work, which includes early morning and overnight beach surveys. Researchers can be spotted marking nests and taking counts on clipboards along the beaches from March 1 to Oct. 31.

The 麻豆原创 Marine Turtle Research Group counts all sea turtle nests and false crawls (non-nesting emergences) for each species, mark a subset of nests for future assessment, and, during summer months, measure and tag sea turtles they observe. They also keep close track of each species as they arrive on the nesting beach throughout the season. Leatherbacks arrive first, then loggerheads, and then finally the green turtles.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not what you would typically think of when you hear 鈥楴ASA grant,鈥� 鈥� says Sacco, who is leading the project and pursuing a doctorate degree in integrative and conservation biology. 鈥淸But] I鈥檓 excited for this unique opportunity from NASA.鈥�

Before coming to 麻豆原创 to work with sea turtles, Sacco earned his master鈥檚 degree at the University of Alaska Fairbanks by studying changes in sea ice and its impact on the local walrus population. Walrus are critical to many Alaskan Native communities in the Bering Sea because they are essential for community needs, Sacco says. He will apply the same mathematical and computer skills he used on the Alaska project to the sea turtle work here.

Sacco will be building an algorithm that tracks the brown algae sargassum as it makes its way across the Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of Mexico to the Caribbean and the east coast of Africa. Sargassum, provides a safe place for sea turtle yearlings to float on during their early days of life.

The algae clumps can be a few inches to a couple of miles long and also provides other sea life with a source of food. Unfortunately, these mats of sargassum occasionally wash ashore 鈥� a problem that has made the news over the last few years. Scientists aren鈥檛 quite sure why this happens, but the impact is clear. The clumps can hurt water quality surrounding coastlines and could be impacting coral reefs. The murky water and rotting smell caused by these beaching events in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean are also impacting beachside communities that rely on tourism and recreational fishing.

Sacco鈥檚 algorithm will use American and European satellite images and radar data to create models that track sargassum. The radar is important because it can see through the clouds that cover the Atlantic Ocean. This will allow scientists to see the changes more clearly, offer clues about why sargassum may be degrading and determine how the change may impact the survival of endangered and threatened sea turtles.

Florida is in the heart of the migration path of several sea turtle species. Central Florida鈥檚 eastern coastline is among the most important nesting areas in the world for loggerhead sea turtles, and it also hosts about one-third of all green turtle nests in the state.

The computer model should also be able to help provide information for better predictions of where sargassum will come ashore, potentially helping communities prepare for or prevent the beach events, Sacco says.

The data collected will also provide information that could help researchers understand the sea turtles鈥� behavior while they float atop sargassum during their 鈥渓ost years.鈥�

鈥淟ost years鈥� refers to the period of time after the sea turtles hatch on beaches and head into the ocean and when they return to forage for food as juveniles several years later. Not a lot is known about this period of time, which is why it is nicknamed the 鈥渓ost years.鈥�

Sacco loves a good mystery. It is what led him to his work in Alaska and why he made his way to Florida in 2016.

Sacco read about 麻豆原创 Associate Professor Kate Mansfield鈥檚 work tracking sea turtles in the Atlantic Ocean during the mysterious 鈥渓ost years.鈥�

鈥淚 thought that my previous experience could help uncover the mystery of the sea turtle lost years,鈥� he says.

Mansfield, who teaches biology and leads the is eager to see Sacco鈥檚 results.

鈥淲e know so little about how these young turtles interact with their oceanic environment,鈥� Mansfield says. 鈥淲e know they associate with sargassum, but we don鈥檛 know how much time the turtles spend in this habitat, and we don鈥檛 know what happens when these mats and safe habitats get blown apart with changes in the wind direction or sea state. If we can better predict when and where young turtles are most likely to stay with a sargassum mat, we can design better management policies to help protect these species.鈥�

Sacco has a bachelor鈥檚 degree in applied mathematics from SUNY: Empire State College in New York and a master鈥檚 degree in geophysics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He has co-authored several journal articles and expects to complete his doctorate in 2022.

The refuge, which extends from southern Brevard County into Indian River County, is one of the most important nesting grounds in Florida for threatened and endangered sea turtles. Leatherback, loggerhead and green sea turtles are all known to use the refuge during their nesting season, which runs from March to October. 麻豆原创鈥檚 Marine Turtle Research Group has monitored the sea turtles on this beach and elsewhere on the Central Florida coast for decades, providing reliable information about the health and breeding habits of the turtles as a way to inform conservation efforts and provide scientific advisory service for beach and dune restoration.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been out daily since the hurricane passed,鈥� said Katrina Phillips, a doctoral candidate who is a senior member of the research group. 鈥淏ased on our surveys of the Brevard portion of the refuge, we estimate that Dorian washed away about 20 percent of the loggerhead nests from this season and about 45 percent of green turtle nests from its season. That鈥檚 more than 8,000 nests.鈥�

Most of the nesting turtles dodged a bullet. The peak of the season for leatherbacks and loggerheads had already passed by the time Dorian arrived, but it was just past prime hatching time for the green turtles.

鈥淗urricanes are never good for people or turtles,鈥� says Kate Mansfield, a 麻豆原创 biology professor and director of the research group. 鈥淏ut this one storm isn鈥檛 going to doom any of these species. We鈥檒l have to observe and look at the total numbers at the end of the season before we can say definitively what the impact may be, but thankfully Dorian hit past the peak season for two of our three residents. The turtles will be back to nest again in future seasons.鈥�

Phillips said the teams of students and scientists who have been conducting surveys on the beach saw green turtles laying eggs a day after Dorian passed and hatchlings heading into the sea have been observed.

By the numbers:

Leatherback (endangered)

Nest March to July

Nests before Dorian: 36

Estimated loss: 1

Loggerheads (threatened)

Nests April to September

Total nests before Dorian: 10,808

Estimated lost: 2,260

Green Turtles (threatened)

Nest May to October

Nests before Dorian: 15,305

Estimated lost: 6,700

If Dorian hat hit during the loggerhead鈥檚 peak nesting time, it could have been much worse. Loggerheads tend to nest on the beach in front of the dunes, which offers no protection against the pounding waves of a storm. Green turtles tend to nest a little higher on the beach, closer to the base of the dunes or in the dunes themselves.

鈥淭he green sea turtle season is still going strong,鈥� Phillips said. 鈥淲e’ve seen over 400 new green turtle nests since Dorian, and expect nesting to continue through October.鈥�

Research faculty and student are still conducting surveys through October and will report final numbers to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and other agencies.

Algae blooms regularly hit the Indian River Lagoon and were especially intense from 2011 to 2013. The lagoon is an important foraging area along the eastern Florida coast for juvenile green turtles.

The blooms, likely caused by excess nutrients in the lagoon, choke the lagoon by blocking light from reaching through the water and by using up the oxygen in the water. That leads to the death of sea grass, fish and other creatures in the lagoon, which in turn causes a stink and upper respiratory issues for some people. Recently, the lagoon also endured two raw-sewage dumps, according to new stories.

A grant funded through the sea turtle license plate gave Long the opportunity to use stable isotope analysis to study the turtle population. Long is part of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Marine Turtle Research Group, which has been monitoring sea turtles along the eastern part of the state for more than four decades. In addition to monitoring the beaches during sea turtle nesting season, the group twice a month studies the turtles in the lagoon. Turtles are collected, measured, checked for fibropapillomatosis tumors and given a general health assessment before being returned to the lagoon.

This summer, Long began using stable isotope analysis on turtle and fish samples collected from the lagoon from 2011 to2017. The results will give Long a better idea of what and where the turtles were eating before and after the blooms.

鈥淭he impact isn鈥檛 very well understood,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen it came to algal blooms, I saw an opportunity to highlight how the impacts on turtles result from broader ecological problems, and an opportunity to spread awareness of these problems. Just as excess nutrients from fertilizer and septic tanks helped cause the blooms in the Indian River Lagoon, they have likely made the red tides worse in the Gulf of Mexico. Hopefully my work can help lead to fewer and smaller blooms in the future.鈥�

While Long hasn鈥檛 finished his analysis, the early data indicates decreases in the number of turtles in the lagoon in 2011-13, the years when the lagoon experienced superblooms and brown tide events. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 think those blooms killed turtles, so stable isotope analysis can help us understand whether their habitat use and diet changed in response to the blooms,鈥� he said.

Why that exactly happened and what it means for the future of sea turtles is exactly what Long and his colleagues want to find out.

鈥淭he goal is to understand how turtles respond to rapid changes in their habitats and use that information to protect turtles more effectively,鈥� Long said. 鈥淭he changes aren鈥檛 likely to go away in the short term, so now we need to focus on how to respond.鈥�

麻豆原创 researchers counted 12,026 green turtle nests in the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge along Brevard County鈥檚 coastline this week, shattering a record the turtles set in 2013 with 11,839 nests. It is the first time green turtle nests have surpassed 12,000. And the nesting season still has two months to go.

For video of baby green turtles heading toward the ocean from Archie Carr .

鈥淭his is really a comeback story,鈥� said Kate Mansfield, a 麻豆原创 assistant professor of biology and lead of the Marine Turtle Research Group, a team of students and research scientists who monitor turtle counts on the beach during turtle nesting season — May 1 to Oct. 1 each year.

鈥淏ack in the 1980s the beaches 麻豆原创 monitored hosted less than 50 green turtle nests a year,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t is a really remarkable recovery and reflects a 鈥榩erfect storm鈥� of conservation successes鈥攆rom the establishment of the Archie Carr, to implementing the Endangered Species Act, among many other conservation initiatives. It will be very exciting to see what happens over the next 20 plus years.鈥�

The green turtles are just one of three species that use the refuge as their nesting grounds. The endangered leatherbacks and threatened loggerheads also love Florida鈥檚 beaches. The Sunshine State supports approximately 80 percent of all sea turtle nesting in the United States and the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge is home to one of the largest nesting beaches for loggerhead turtles in the Western Hemisphere.

鈥淚 strongly hope this milestone is only a hint of what the future holds for Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge and that 麻豆原创鈥檚 work leads to the steady recovery for the sea turtle species that begin their lives here,鈥� said Anibal Vazquez, the refuge assistant manager.

The Marine Turtle Research Group at 麻豆原创 has been monitoring all turtle nests on the 13-mile stretch of beach for more than 30 years. Retired professor Llew Ehrhart founded the program in the 1970s and his early work helped Archie Carr earn national refuge status in 1991.

The research group does much more when it comes to sea turtle research on the coast. It monitors up to 25 miles along the Central Florida coast from just north of Sebastian Inlet near Melbourne Beach to Patrick Air Force Base, including the Archie Carr refuge. The group maintains more than 35 years of data for聽sea turtle nesting and reproductive assessments聽for this stretch of coastline. For more than 30聽years, the team has also conducted in-water surveys of juvenile sea turtles that are found foraging聽in the Indian River Lagoon, an important developmental habitat for loggerhead and green turtles. The team conducts work in the northern Gulf of Mexico in order to satellite-track very small, oceanic stage sea turtles captured in the region and associated with the BP oil spill. This is an on-going project that provides the world鈥檚 first data on wild-caught oceanic (鈥渓ost years鈥�) juvenile turtles. With Mansfield鈥檚 novel research satellite tracking the sea turtle 鈥渓ost years,鈥� the research group is evolving into a center for whole life-history sea turtle research鈥攆rom eggs to adulthood.

Mansfield, who earlier this month gained international attention for a study about young turtles swimming with a purpose, is one of the four keynote speakers. Her topic is 鈥淥ut with the old, in with the new hypotheses: swimming behavior and genetic habitat shifts among wild-caught oceanic state turtles.鈥� She is considered an innovator for her work in the field.

Mansfield said she was honored to be asked to speak and hopes her students will benefit from their own presentations.

鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to it,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t is a good to share and discuss with others conducting research in the field and it is a wonderful opportunity for students to present their work and network.鈥�

Mansfield heads the 麻豆原创 Marine Turtle Research Group, which conducts work in Brevard County as well as the Gulf of Mexico and waters off South America鈥檚 coastline.

Among the five students traveling to Mugla, Turkey, for the conference is Katrina Phillips, who earlier this month earned a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship聽 to continue her research into endangered sea turtles.

The conference is one of the biggest sea turtle science and conservation meetings in the world and draws hundreds of experts in the field. This year, there will be 135 presentations and workshops and 225 posters shared with attendees. Topics cover everything from education and policy to genetics and economic and cultural studies as they relate to sea turtles.

Mansfield鈥檚 talk will include new information she and biologist Nathan Putman covered in an article published earlier this month, as well as other research she conducts on ocean-going juvenile turtles. Putman, the lead author, works for NOAA’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center in Miami.

They discovered that even at a tender 6 to18 months, turtles are very active swimmers. They don鈥檛 just passively drift in ocean currents as researchers once thought.

To read more about the study click here. In March 2014, Mansfield published first-of-its-kind data from young sea turtles swimming off Florida鈥檚 coast, thanks to a satellite tracking system. To read more about that groundbreaking study click here.

The 鈥渓ost years鈥� refers to the time after turtles hatch and head to sea where they remain for many years before returning to near-shore waters as large juveniles. The time period is often referred to as the 鈥渓ost years鈥� because not much has been known about where the young turtles go and how they interact with their oceanic environment — until now.

The work is getting a lot of attention from NPR to . Why? Because of the important nature of the work and the creative way the team used an acrylic fill used for manicures to solve a problem.

Listen in as Ira Flatow, host of , talks to Mansfield about her research from 麻豆原创鈥檚 broadcast station W麻豆原创 FM. 聽Or check out some of the other coverage in , and the among others.

The 鈥渓ost years鈥� refers to the time after turtles hatch and head to sea where they remain for many years before returning to near-shore waters as large juveniles. The time period is often referred to as the 鈥渓ost years鈥� because not much has been known about where the young turtles go and how they interact with their oceanic environment — until now.

鈥淲hat is exciting is that we provide the first look at the early behavior and movements of young sea turtles in the wild,鈥� said 麻豆原创 biologist Kate Mansfield, who led the team. 鈥淏efore this study, most of the scientific information about the early life history of sea turtles was inferred through genetics studies, opportunistic sightings offshore, or laboratory-based studies. With real observations of turtles in their natural environment, we are able to examine and reevaluate existing hypotheses about the turtles鈥� early life history. This knowledge may help managers provide better protection for these threatened and endangered species.鈥�

Findings from the study appear today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.聽

A team of scientists from 麻豆原创, Florida Atlantic University, University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, and University of Wisconsin tracked 17 loggerhead turtles for 27 to 220 days in the open ocean using small, solar-powered satellite tags. The goal was to better understand the turtles鈥� movements, habitat preferences and what role temperature may play in early sea turtle life history.

Some of the findings challenge previously held beliefs.

While the turtles remain in oceanic waters (traveling between 124 miles to 2,672 miles) off the continental shelf and the loggerhead turtles sought the surface of the water as predicted, the study found that the turtles do not necessarily remain within the currents associated with the North Atlantic subtropical gyre. It was historically thought that loggerhead turtles hatching from Florida鈥檚 east coast complete a long, developmental migration in a large circle around the Atlantic entrained in these currents. But the team鈥檚 data suggest that turtles may drop out of these currents into the middle of the Atlantic or the Sargasso Sea.

The team also found that while the turtles mostly stayed at the sea surface, where they were exposed to the sun鈥檚 energy, the turtles鈥� shells registered more heat than anticipated (as recorded by sensors in the satellite tags), leading the team to consider a new hypothesis about why the turtles seek refuge in Sargassum. It is a type of seaweed found on the surface of the water in the deep ocean long associated with young sea turtles.

鈥淲e propose that young turtles remain at the sea surface to gain a thermal benefit,鈥� Mansfield said. 鈥淭his makes sense because the turtles are cold blooded animals. By remaining at the sea surface, and by associating with Sargassum habitat, turtles gain a thermal refuge of sorts that may help enhance growth and feeding rates, among other physiological benefits.鈥�

More research will be needed, but it鈥檚 a start at cracking the 鈥渓ost years鈥� mystery.

The findings are important because the loggerhead turtles, along with other sea turtles, are threatened or endangered species. Florida beaches are important to their survival because they provide important nesting grounds in North America. More than 80 percent of Atlantic loggerheads nest along Florida鈥檚 coast. 聽There are other important nesting grounds and nursing areas for sea turtles in the western hemisphere found from as far north as Virginia to South America and the Caribbean.

鈥淔rom the time they leave our shores, we don鈥檛 hear anything about them until they surface near the Canary Islands, which is like their primary school years,鈥� said Florida Atlantic University professor Jeannette Wyneken, the study鈥檚 co-leader and author. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a whole lot that happens during the Atlantic crossing that we knew nothing about. Our work helps to redefine Atlantic loggerhead nursery grounds and early loggerhead habitat use.鈥�

Mansfield joined 麻豆原创 in 2013. She has a Ph.D. from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and a master鈥檚 degree from the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami. She previously worked at Florida International University, through the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS) in association with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Marine Fisheries Services. She was a National Academies NRC postdoctoral associate based at NOAA鈥檚 Southeast Fisheries Science Center, and remains an affiliate faculty in Florida Atlantic University鈥檚 biology department where Wyneken is based.

With colleagues at each institution, Mansfield conducted research that has helped further the understanding of the sea turtle 鈥渓ost years鈥� and sea turtle life history as a whole. For example, she and Wyneken developed a satellite tagging method using a non-toxic manicure acrylic, old wetsuits and hair-extension glue to attach satellite tags to small turtles. Tagging small turtles is very difficult by traditional means because of their small size and how fast they grow.

Mansfield is currently working under grants from NOAA and the Florida Sea Turtle License Plate fund to conduct work on the sea turtle 鈥渓ost years.鈥� #麻豆原创Turtles, @麻豆原创TurtleLab

Other members on the team are: Wyneken, Warren P. Porter from the University of Wisconsin and Jiangang Luo from the University of Miami.