S mission is to raise awareness about the threats facing sea turtles “Raising Awareness: The Threats Facing Sea Turtles and How You Can Help

During the ‍time⁤ that hatchlings spend in the laboratory, they are provided with a carefully crafted diet and regularly monitored for weight and size. This provides valuable and rare data on early growth and energy usage,which is crucial for developing a Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) model. Dr. Wyneken expressed her enthusiasm for contributing to this effort, stating, “Throughout my career, I have frequently enough‍ heard or read that we lack the necessary data‌ to answer some of the most fundamental questions about the youngest‍ life stages of sea turtles. With this research,we are finally able to provide answers about ‌how leatherbacks live,grow,and survive in their natural environment – even without direct observation. It’s truly groundbreaking!”

Anna was also able to gather additional data points from other studies on‌ leatherback ⁤sea turtles regarding their presumed age at maturity, size at maturity, size at hatching, weight at hatching, and ⁣egg weight. With ⁢these critical⁢ pieces of data in hand, Anna and Dr. Marn began the challenging task ‍of analyzing all of ​these numbers using a program called MATLAB. They spent countless hours fitting parameters, running simulations, and evaluating how​ well the model could ‍replicate growth trends observed in The Marine Lab’s data.

Reflecting on ⁤the process, Anna shared, ​ “The most challenging ‌part​ was ensuring that the model accurately mimicked a real‌ turtle. Combining data collected under different conditions required extensive‌ testing and verification to⁢ ensure that the results were ⁤biologically plausible. But once we achieved a good fit ⁤with the data,it was incredibly satisfying – almost like having⁢ a new toy that allows you to ask‌ all⁤ sorts of questions.”

Now that⁢ the DEB model is complete, it can‌ be used ​to⁢ simulate how changes in ocean ⁢temperature and food availability impact a leatherback’s growth and ability to reach reproductive size.These simulations revealed that turtles living in warmer waters with plentiful food ⁣resources grow faster, mature earlier, and have greater reproductive potential. This trend is expected because although leatherbacks are able to retain⁣ some body heat and tolerate colder temperatures better than other sea turtles, their growth‌ and energy‍ usage are still heavily influenced by environmental factors – especially when they are smaller.