Cuteness Ahoy! These Baby Sea Turtles In Swimsuits Will Make Your Day

Featured Image Credit:Jay Paredes
By Sarah Sharkey

These adorable baby sea turtles are on treadmills wearing swimsuits for science. Yes, they are adorable. But why are scientists putting them in bathing suits on treadmills? To determine how light pollution affects these tiny turtles in the wild.

Light pollution is a concern for any sea turtle on the beaches. Sea turtles dig their nests on the beach follow the lowest light on the horizon in hopes of finding the ocean. This technique has worked well for them over their evolutionary history. However, increasing light pollution from coastal cities has been known to disrupt their trek from their nest to the relative safety of the water.

Image Credit: Ron Bend/U.S. National Park Service

Instead of taking minutes from nest to shoreline, the journey can take hours for a confused hatchling. Not only is this a tiring adventure but also makes them more prone to predation by gulls, raccoons, and others looking for an easy meal.

The lead biologist, Sarah Milton, said the about the study “We wanted to know if they would even be able to swim after crawling 500 meters [1,640 feet] or more, which could take them as long as seven hours to complete”

So 150 baby turtles were collected, marched on a treadmill for long distances, and then put into tanks of water for two hours to test their swimming. Surprisingly, the turtles did really well in the study. The results of the study show promise for the survival of disorientated turtles.

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