Hatchling sea turtles face daunting odds in surviving to adulthood, and only a few find a way. Just where they go to find food and hide from predators has remained a mystery until earlier this year, when Kate Mansfield, a biologist at the University of Central Florida, came up with a novel way to stick solar-powered radio tags on the tiny reptiles.
This video, from Inside Science TV, provides a nice visual recap of that work:
More:
Sea Turtles' "Lost Years" Transatlantic Journey Mapped for First Time
March 6, 2014
SA.com story on Kate Mansfield’s work.
How Sea Turtles Navigate [All-Access Subscribers Only]
By Kenneth J. Lohman
January 1992
Whereby researchers have hatchlings in a pool and watch how they swim based on an external magnetic field.
The Navigation of the Green Sea Turtle [All-Access Subscribers Only]
By Archie Carr
May 1965
A classic from one of the giants of sea-turtle research.