Dr Michelle Boyle, of the School of Marine and Tropical Ecology at James Cook University in north Queensland has tracked the migration of Australian born logger-head sea turtles using genetic testing.
“The turtles have been using the east Australian current to travel to the south pacific to the waters off Peru and Chile and return using the Southern Equatorial Current” says Dr Boyle, It is unknown how long the journey takes and how much is active or passive transportation via currents.
To confirm the Pacific Ocean migration theory Dr Boyle used a combination of techniques that focuses on the sea turtles movement in the south pacific. Using tissue and the genetic analysis of the mitochondrial DNA haplotypes showed that South American and East Australian sea turtles shared the same genetic background.
Dr Boyle’s study pushes for the need for international collaborations when developing management and conservation policies.
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links
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2004/03/23/1071046.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/10/2512564.htm
