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Turtle Tagging
By Jennifer Gray
 Sea turtles have inhabited our oceans for some 150 million years, surviving catastrophic events that wiped out even the dinosaurs. Today all sea turtles are classified internationally as Endangered or Critically Endangered, and there is no doubt that the biggest threat to their existence is man.
Sea turtles have long and complex life cycles, and it has taken years to develop a clear understanding of their life history patterns. We know that they live long, reaching perhaps 100 years of age; in the case of the green turtle, it takes some 50 years just to reach sexual maturity. Adult sea turtles make regular migrations from their feeding grounds to the nesting beaches — the very beaches where they were hatched themselves.
Bermuda hosts one of the healthiest populations of turtles in the Atlantic region. While most studies of sea turtles take place on nesting beaches, Bermuda provides scientists and resource managers with a unique opportunity to study the little understood juvenile stage of the sea turtle. Our extensive sea grass beds support a large resident population of green turtles, which have been the focus of a tagging study initiated in 1968.
With a goal to promote the conservation of marine turtles through research and education, efforts continue under the banner of the Bermuda Turtle Project. Sea turtles are captured in nets, tagged and released, with research carried out on size structure, sex ratios, growth rates, genetic affinities, habitat preference and migrations. Through this long-term study, we have learned that young turtles establish specific feeding areas. Even if displaced, they return to these particular sites and may stay for years. They may live in our waters for 10 to 20 years, and are usually recaptured in the same area, supporting site fidelity of the species.
To date, more than 100 turtles caught and tagged in Bermuda have been found overseas in Nicaragua, Panama, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, Grenada, Venezuela and the U.S. This information, along with genetic analyses, confirms that throughout their lives marine turtles disperse and migrate over vast distances throughout the Atlantic Ocean and in the territories of numerous nations. Hence, there is a pressing need — and tremendous challenge — to develop collaborative international measures for the conservation of both the animals and their habitats. With our background, Bermuda is ideally situated to promote the benefits of long-term sea turtle conservation and share our knowledge of in-water research on sea turtle foraging grounds.
Bermuda is indeed fortunate to have a large and healthy population of turtles, as well as the support of the people of Bermuda, who allow the aquarium and its programmes to prosper.
Read about one writer's unforgettable experience with Bermuda's sea turtles.
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