Tracking sea turtles for science

Since 1975 thousands of turtles have been tagged to help scientists understand more about the various stages in their life cycles.

In 1975 more than 7,000 Loggerhead hatchlings were tagged at Mon Repos in south east Queensland. One of the returning turtles, named Premiere, was fitted with a satellite tracker in 2003 to assist scientists to understand more about her home ranges during the nesting period and outside of nesting time.

Premiere joined three green turtles, Dean, Ted and Moreton, all of which were fitted with satellite trackers in 2002 and another loggerhead, Jimmy, fitted with one in May 2003.

To learn more about the adventures of Premiere, Dean, Moreton, Jimmy and Ted visit the Queensland DERM website.

Satellite tracking is also being carried out elsewhere around the world. In this photo released by the World Wildlife Fund, a leatherback turtle fitted with a satellite tracking device heads for the sea on July 25, 2003, on a remote beach in Indonesia's Papua province. Scientists tracked one leatherback turtle that swam from Indonesia to the U.S in an epic 20,000km journey as it searched for food.

All the research and tracking projects undertaken around the world are contributing to a growing bank of knowledge that is helping us understand and protect the endangered sea turtles.