Our team will conduct studies on the behavior, physiology and migration patterns of the leatherback turtles on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. We will help tag and identify turtles, record nest locations and help determine hatchling success. Researchers and scientists have been working with these turtles in for the past 17 years in attempt to understand the impact of human activities and pollution. This work has led to the establishment of a National Park and a Marine Biology field station.
When looking for leatherbacks, the first thing we usually stumble upon are tracks. They look like tractor tracks.
posted by Fiona O'Doherty & Jennifer Seshadri @ 6:09 PM
Research supported by:
Our expedition fellowships are funded by Marymount School: 
The Live from the Field program is made possible by a generous grant from the National Geographic Education Foundation:
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18 Comments:
Those tracks look like some sort of vehicle with large wheels.
i agree! i think it's some sort of a truck.
my question is: how long can sea turtles live outside of the ocean for? and how many turtles have you encountered during your expedition? and are the turtles friendly towards humans?
Hi Emily and Alexon,
Those tracks are prety large aren't they? The mystery of these tracks will be revelaed later today on the bolg. You are in for one big
surprise!
i think they are turtle tracks!
kailen
Hey Ms. O'D!!
I hope you are having an incredible time in Costa Rica!
I was just wondering about how high the temperature has to be in order for you to come to the conlusion that the eggs are female and how cold the temperature has to be in order to conclude that the eggs are male. I hope you enjoy your last couple of days and enjoy the sun shine!!
See you soon!
Rosie
Hi Kailen,
All will be revealed later today!
Rosie, Thanks for the great question.
29º C is the deciding temperature - below that, most of the hatchlings will be male and above that most will be female. Since the temperature is warmer now than at the beginning of the season, we get mostly females.Here is a great link that discusses the effects of global warming on this process.
http://www.global-greenhouse-warming.com/climate-change-and-sea-turtles.html
Hi Britt - thanks for the comment.
The turtle is out of the water anywhere from an hour to 2 hours - it all depends on how long it takes her to complete the process( emerging from the ses, body-pitting, digging her egg chamber, laying her eggs, filling and camouflaging the nest, and returning to sea. Recently, the eggs chambers have been collapsing a lot because of the dry sand which means she sometimes has to try 2 or 3 times before it will work. Unfortunately, she will sometimes give up and return to sea.
Hey Ms. O'D,
Hope you're having fun on you're remaining days left! I miss you dearly!
Since turtles both spend their lives in the water as well as on land, my question is: what adaptations do they have that allow them to do this. For example, how do they breathe in and out of the water?
Hope you're having a great time!
Looking forward to seeing you on Monday!
Hey Ms. O'D!
This blog is actually very cool, I love the pictures! So I hear (from Wikipedia) that leatherback turtles do not actually have shells like other turtles do (hence their name), is there a reason for this? Maybe because they were so much larger then other turtles that the shell was rendered unnecessary and evolution filtered them out? I used to have a turtle, believe it or not! I bought him in China Town, he was très adorable, much smaller than those leatherbacks though. Anyways, good luck with the rest of your expedition!
Amanda B.
And to add on to Britt's question...What happens when she gives up and returns to see? Does she find a new beach? I mean, she's about it give birth! The poor thing needs an epidural! No, just kidding, but really, will those unreleased eggs die if a nest cannot be made?
Amanda B.
Hey ms.Seshadri i think that they are mother leatherback turtles tracks or maybe the little hatchlings travel in packs together and make those tracks.
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Hi Alexon and Amanda, Looking forward to seeing you Monday!
Alexon -Sea turtles breathe with lungs. This forces them to regularly surface in order to take in air. Sea turtles are able to sustain larger concentrations of carbon dioxide in their blood than most other air-breathing animals. Furthermore, both blood and muscle tissue can store oxygen in large quantities. This allows them to spend a lot of time under water. Sea turtles have been observed spending up to six hours under water, sleeping.
Amanda -The leatherback is the only sea turtle that lacks a hard shell. It is named for its large, elongate shell which is composed of a layer of thin, tough, rubbery skin, strengthened by thousands of tiny bone plates. Seven narrow ridges run down the length of the carapace, which is typically black with many white spots. The lower shell is whitish to black and marked by 5 ridges. I really don't know if there is a reason why it doesn't have a shell like other turtles. I can answer your other question though - if she she aborts the nesting process, she will return again either later that night if the tide is not too low or the following night when the tide is right.
Hi Alexon and Amanda, Looking forward to seeing you Monday!
Alexon -Sea turtles breathe with lungs. This forces them to regularly surface in order to take in air. Sea turtles are able to sustain larger concentrations of carbon dioxide in their blood than most other air-breathing animals. Furthermore, both blood and muscle tissue can store oxygen in large quantities. This allows them to spend a lot of time under water. Sea turtles have been observed spending up to six hours under water, sleeping.
Amanda -The leatherback is the only sea turtle that lacks a hard shell. It is named for its large, elongate shell which is composed of a layer of thin, tough, rubbery skin, strengthened by thousands of tiny bone plates. Seven narrow ridges run down the length of the carapace, which is typically black with many white spots. The lower shell is whitish to black and marked by 5 ridges. I really don't know if there is a reason why it doesn't have a shell like other turtles. I can answer your other question though - if she she aborts the nesting process, she will return again either later that night if the tide is not too low or the following night when the tide is right.
i think the tracts are from a truck or tractor, maybe beach patrol.
ariana
So if the big turtle makes that big of tracks what tracks do the little turtles make?
i think it is a big truck i.e. tractor or beach patrol
ariana
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