Tracking Turtles… A Final Update!
From Dean Bagley:
I am sorry to say that we’ve lost Kevin since the last update. His last transmission was received on 13 November. Attached please find a map with his last known location, immediately to the left of the date. Although these transmitters didn’t stay on as long as we would like, we gained a lot of insight into where these turtles forage, and the movements they make during their time at the nesting beach, during migration and while at their foraging grounds. They contributed to our knowledge about their genetics, and their destinations provided additional information on stable isotope signatures. Because Frank didn’t make it to his final foraging grounds before he lost the transmitter, we cannot use his signature to identify a foraging location, but he gave us the most interesting track to date, spending time off no less than nine nesting beaches on his way south. It may be that when the stable isotope analysis is conducted, the signature found in his blood may be close to other tracked turtles so that we will be able to identify his foraging grounds then.
