Biologists close in on mystery of Sea Turtles life cycle |
| Published: October 11, 2007, 3:45 am |
| Tags: turtle |
|
Biologists have found a major clue in a 50-year-old mystery about what happens to green sea turtles after they crawl out of their sandy nests and vanish into the surf, only to reappear several years later relatively close to shore In a paper set to appear Wednesday in the online edition of the journal Biology Letters, three University of Florida sea turtle scientists say they found the clue by analyzing chemical elements ingrained in the turtles' shells.Their conclusion: The turtles spend their first three to five lost years in the open ocean, feeding on jellyfish and other creatures as carnivores. Only after this period do they move closer to shore and switch to a vegetarian diet of sea grass the period in their lives when they have long been observed and studied. This has been a really intriguing and embarrassing problem for sea turtle biologists, because so many green turtle hatchlings enter the ocean, and we haven't known where they go, said Karen Bjorndal, a [ Full article ] |
 Blog link
|
No Comments...