Loggerhead turtles current-riding 20,000km round-trip
March 16, 2009
A marine biologist has helped fill in the so-called lost years of Australia’s loggerhead turtles by discovering they are using ocean currents to undertake a 20,000-kilometre, round trip across the Pacific Ocean.
Dr Michelle Boyle, of the School of Marine and Tropical Ecology at James Cook University, Queensland, and colleagues used genetic testing to track the migratory behaviour of the Australian-born loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), which hatches in rookeries on the Queensland coast.
Boyle says it appears the endangered turtles use the ocean currents that make up the South Pacific gyre to travel across the southern Pacific Ocean to the waters off Peru and Chile.
In scenes reminiscent of the animated movie Finding Nemo, they then pick up the East Australian Current (EAC), which they “ride” down the coast of eastern Australia.
From ABC Science, Full Article HERE
Lagoons of New Caledonia named a UNESCO World Heritage site
July 11, 2008
Lagoons of New Caledoni (France), Pacific Ocean.
Part of a French-controlled island cluster located about 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) east of Australia, the lagoons of New Caledonia—including those around the islet pictured above—make up the third largest coral reef structure in the world.
The healthy, intact marine ecosystems are home to threatened fish species, turtles, and the world’s third largest population of dugongs, large vegetarian mammals related to manatees.
The lagoons were named a UNESCO World Heritage site in July 2008.
From National Geographic: Read more
