strp field work leads to important papers
Recent journal papers have been published using data that was obtained through active participation and support of our students participating in the HPA STRP.
Our work over the years in Japan putting out over 230 satellite tags on captive reared loggerhead turtles and deploying them in the Kuroshio current to follow their migratory paths resulted in several papers on their travels and the implications relative to longline fisheries by catch. The most recent and perhaps the most interesting is about the occasional movement of their juvenile loggerheas across the entire north Pacific Ocean from Japan to Baja California. See “Dynamic Thermal Corridor”.
Blood samples from turtles around the north Pacific were analyzed for Perfluorinated alkyl acids (PFAS) to determine their presence in the tissues of loggerhead, hawksbill and green turtles. PFAS are a group of chemicals used to make fluoropolymer coatings and products that resist heat, oil, stains, grease, and water. Fluoropolymer coatings can be used in such varied products as clothing, furniture, adhesives, food packaging, heat-resistant non-stick cooking surfaces, and the insulation of electrical wire. In short, they are manufactured chemicals not found naturally in the environment. To learn more about PFAS affects on health of animals go here. Our group presented a poster paper at the international symposium on this analysis and, subsequently, the paper was published in the journal “Environmental Pollution.”