Turtle-cam: Endangered leatherback devours jellyfish off the coast of Nova Scotia
Digital Reporter
Sunday, March 1, 2015, 5:11 PM - In researching leatherback turtles off the coast of Nova Scotia, a team of scientists, engineers, commercial fishermen, and other volunteers gained new insight on the marine creatures eating habits and how they navigate below the surface of the water.
The turtle-cam footage released last week was taken using a camera attached to the shell of a leatherback turtle.
Dr. Mike James, a local sea turtle biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, developed the camera in collaboration with engineers at Xeos Technologies and Soko Technologies.
In a research paper, Mike says the new data is helping bring a clearer understanding of how these ancient reptiles spend their time at sea.
"Rather than inferring what the turtles are doing below the surface of the water, we can actually see it happening,” said Mike.
The cameras were placed on 24 turtles between 2008 and 2013 off the coast of Nova Scotia. The team attached the cameras using suction cups while the turtles were still moving in an effort not to disturb their daily foraging activities.
Canadian Sea Turtle Network (YouTube)
"It’s like getting turtle’s home videos—seeing what they see, where they go, and how they acquire vital resources to fuel their natural behaviour,” added Dr. Bryan Wallace, who is co-author on the paper.
Researchers say this is just the kind of information they need to work at conserving leatherbacks in the most intelligent way as possible.
"Our population is valuable because right now it appears to be fairly stable and it gives us a lot of opportunity to study the animals and apply what we learn here else were," said James in an interview with CBC.
Leatherbacks can grow to more than two metres in length, and can weigh up to 2,000 lbs.
They routinely migrate thousands of kilometres between nesting beaches and foraging areas, an energetically demanding feat that is fueled exclusively by a highly-specialized diet of jellyfish.
"They turned down very few jellyfish and ate them in their entirety," said James, after sifting through hours of tape.
Leatherback turtles have inhabited the world's oceans since the time of the dinosaurs, but are now an endangered species.
Related endangered species: Blanding's turtle
Sources: Frontiers | Canadian Sea Turtle Network | CBC News
