Conservation Study Uses Tiny Treadmills to Test Sea Turtle Hatchling Stamina
Florida Atlantic UniversityA newly hatched sea turtle should be able to crawl from its nest to the ocean in a couple of minutes if everything goes as nature planned. Speed is key and their survival depends heavily on their ability to swim. Disoriented hatchlings who eventually make it to the ocean expend massive amounts of energy because what was supposed to take a couple of minutes now takes hours to accomplish. FAU scientists are the first to examine the physiological effects of extended crawling and swimming performance on disoriented hatchlings with some surprising results.