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Scientists Followed a Leatherback Turtle Through Hurricane Florence -- Here's What They Saw (popsci.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: At 10:00 p.m. on May 5, a team of people quietly approached a leatherback lying in the sand on the Florida beach. Working quickly while the female sea turtle laid her eggs, they drilled two small holes in the back of her shell. Through the holes they threaded zip ties, affixing a small transmitter with epoxy on the back for added security.
Over the next few months, members of the non-profit, Florida Leatherbacks, Inc, watched as Isla the sea turtle visited the beach a few more time to lay new clutches of fragile eggs in the sand, before starting her late summer migration north along the East Coast. "We're monitoring where she is right now, and it just happens to be in the middle of a hurricane," Kelly Martin says. Isla is now off the Outer Banks of North Carolina, to the north of where Hurricane Florence made landfall late last week. For a while it seemed like she would get caught in the massive storm as it slid past the coast. She wound up north of the worst of it, but still experienced rough seas over the weekend. Even before the hurricane hit, she surfaced in an area where waves reached 14 feet high.
"Turtles are air breathers, so they need to come to the surface periodically to breathe, but I suspect many dive below the surface to weather the storms," Kate Mansfield, director of the Marine Turtle Research Group at the University of Central Florida, says in an email. "I have tracked turtles through some storms in the past and never saw any sort of movement that suggested they were trying to get away from the storm (or that the storms shifted their paths). The turtles I tracked were larger juveniles -- at that size they can dive 100s of meters deep."
Over the next few months, members of the non-profit, Florida Leatherbacks, Inc, watched as Isla the sea turtle visited the beach a few more time to lay new clutches of fragile eggs in the sand, before starting her late summer migration north along the East Coast. "We're monitoring where she is right now, and it just happens to be in the middle of a hurricane," Kelly Martin says. Isla is now off the Outer Banks of North Carolina, to the north of where Hurricane Florence made landfall late last week. For a while it seemed like she would get caught in the massive storm as it slid past the coast. She wound up north of the worst of it, but still experienced rough seas over the weekend. Even before the hurricane hit, she surfaced in an area where waves reached 14 feet high.
"Turtles are air breathers, so they need to come to the surface periodically to breathe, but I suspect many dive below the surface to weather the storms," Kate Mansfield, director of the Marine Turtle Research Group at the University of Central Florida, says in an email. "I have tracked turtles through some storms in the past and never saw any sort of movement that suggested they were trying to get away from the storm (or that the storms shifted their paths). The turtles I tracked were larger juveniles -- at that size they can dive 100s of meters deep."
In order to avoid the wave action, a few meters below the surface is all you need to get.
Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
That was really interesting findings. Great science.
Yeah, I've heard that term used for the leathery old ladies in Florida who have spent way too much time in the sun over the years and look like an old boot.
Does the mention of drilling holes into the turtle's back give anyone else the creeps? Interesting article though.
...made it to the water?
that 5 out of 5 human scientists are assholes who will drill a hole in your shell while you're in the middle of trying to lay your eggs in time to keep them safe from a god damn hurricane.
You mean to tell me that these "scientists" didn't know that, like fish, turtles, sea mammals, etc. aren't troubled by strong winds and wave action when they dip just a few feet below the surface, where they spend >90% of their time?
Wow, man.
I read TFA, expecting some revealation, or anything newsworthy that warranted posting. I read it 'til the end nothing.
A turtle with a transponder wanders around; there is a hurricane; it wanders trough the hurricane.
As opposed to what? Is there anything not normal for turtles and hurricanes in there that I missed?
Or are we just reporting sacks of rice falling over in China now?
"Here's what they saw?" That is a pure clickbait title. It's about on the same level as "You won't believe what happens next!" or "they came up with a number of conclusions. #7 will blow your mind."
No site that even halfway respects its integrity should use title tricks like this.
Please do not post click-bait. Please don't chase the lowest common denominator.
If she gets hit by a truck or a house falls on top of her, Trump will claim she died of old age.
A few months - that's a long battery life!
What is it with Americans and that logic? I only read things like this on US sites:
"Hitler killed x million people! (He is a horrible person!)”
“Yeah, but Stalin killed x million more people! (So Hitler did nothing wrong.)”
PROTIP: When 0 is the threshold of "not acceptable", then the existence of -10, does not make -5 magically become >0. No kid that is raped "only" once a week is smiling because another kid is raped thrice a week!
I pulled the garboard plugs and let my boat sit on the bottom. I'll float her next week, wash and dry her out, replace carpet and she'll be fine. It's not unreasonable.
Reality is that the physical and mental health injuries rom the evacuation are more severe than the injuries from hunkering down, but the petty tyrants need to show that they're in charge.
What is up with these stupid click bait titles?
"Here's what they saw"
Fuck off with this bullshit. What is this, a website for toddlers?
This is on the same level as "trainers hat him" and "earn $$$$$ at home"
Let Hacker News teach you how to run a successful and interesting nerd site. Show some humility.
CAP: reform
The turtle has a Xiaomi phone, has Windows 10 on her laptop, and uses Facebook religiously. So, she really coudln't care less about privacy.
So DUDEs, the turtle scenes were accurate? :P
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).