Long distance navigation in albatrosses and sea turtles
The long-distance navigation performed by sea turtles and albatrosses is one of the most fascinating navigation performances of the animal world. While first-time-migrants are believed to rely on a genetic program inherited from their parents to reach the goal areas, older animals seem to use different sensory systems and local cues to find their way to known sites.
In a number of studies, we explore how albatrosses and sea turtles cope with similar tasks, e.g. locating isolated breeding islands, homing to breeding sites on land compared with marine environments.
Using satellite telemetry and GPS loggers we will compare the migration and navigation of sea turtles in Southern Atlantic Ocean by the island of Ascension, with that of albatrosses by the islands of Crozet in the South Indian Ocean and Midway in the Pacific Ocean.
Displacement experiments
Our displacement experiments in which we captured and released the turtles in open ocean at different sites around Ascension Island have shown that successful returns occurred from north to northwest of the island, suggesting the turtles used cues transported by air or surface water, associated with this geographical direction. Here, a female green turtle on her way towards the sea after laying her eggs at Ascension Island. Photo: Susanne Åkesson- 1 of 5
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