Tracking Juvenile Leatherbacks

As more and more female leatherbacks nest on our shores, it won’t be long before their hatchlings emerge and head out to sea. But where do they go? Where are their nursery areas? Until recently, sea turtle scientists did not know because young leatherback sea turtles had never been successfully tracked before.

Finally, in 2020, researchers from Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and Upwell Turtles (a California non-profit) developed a satellite tracking tag designed specifically to fit the little leatherbacks. Each “micro-satellite” tag weighs less than a penny.

Next, Dr. Jeanette Wyneken and her team at FAU raised several leatherback hatchlings in captivity and once the juveniles weighed over 100 grams, they attached the tiny tags to them. Then, 18 tagged juveniles were released offshore from the coast of Florida. The tags transmit their location data to a satellite and fall off naturally after 80 days. Watch this Upwell Turtles video to learn more about the project and see the tagged juveniles during their release: Satellite Tracking Juvenile Leatherbacks in Florida.

Recently, in March 2024, Dr. George Schillinger (Executive Director of Upwell Turtles) reported some of their findings in The State of the World’s Sea Turtles (SWOT) Report Volume 19: How Deep Do Sea Turtles Dive? Just like adult leatherbacks, juveniles love to deep dive. Several of the tagged young leatherbacks dove over 130 feet after they were released. Additionally, the tracking data showed they spent 70% of their time underwater and routinely dove beyond 230 feet.

Knowing where juvenile leatherbacks live in the ocean gives researchers and wildlife protection agencies the information they need to create conservation strategies that mitigate the threats of human activity (such as long-line fishing) to these endangered sea turtles.

Read more about this project from the following articles on the Upwell Turtles website:

• Unraveling the Mysteries of the “Lost Years”
• Novel Tracking Technology Sheds Light on Leatherback “Lost Years”

Learn more about leatherback sea turtles from these STPS blogs:

• Leatherbacks: Adapted for the Deep (April 28, 2021)
• Leatherback Adaptations (June 15, 2020)