June 18, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
Despite challenging weather conditions, NOAA Fisheries researchers and colleagues captured and tagged a record 13 leatherback turtles May 14-22 off Beaufort, North Carolina, continuing a project begun in 2017 to assess the abundance, movements, behavior, and health status of these turtles. It is the second year this team has tagged leatherbacks off North Carolina, where the turtles aggregate in coastal waters during their northward spring migration.
Turtle researchers Heather Haas and Eric Matzen from the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Woods Hole Laboratory joined NOAA Fisheries Southeast staffers, including team leader Chris Sasso, Larisa Avens, Annie Gorgone, Blake Price, Jamie Clark and Joanne McNeil during the nine-day field operation. A team of veterinarians led by Dr. Craig Harms from North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine assessed health status, while Samir Patel and colleagues from the Coonamessett Farm Foundation (CFF) brought several types of suction cup tags for testing. These tags record high-resolution video as well as environmental and movement information.
Research was coordinated with Dr. Matthew Godfrey of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, who assisted in the field work. Haas and Matzen brought the Woods Hole Laboratory’s research vessel Selkie and an inflatable Takacat raft to provide field support.