Navigational challenges in the oceanic migrations of leatherback sea turtles: Article Review

The article chosen attempts on finding a probable explanation on how exactly leatherback sea turtles (dermochelys coriacea) are able to navigate in the ocean. As learned in class, leatherback sea turtles are some of the most impressive sea navigators in the animal kingdom. The article suggests from recent experiments that movements of the leatherback sea turtles are strongly dependent on oceanic currents to help them travel during their long distance migrations.The article also discusses how no one has really been able to study the longterm movements of these turtles, until recent satellite tracking came along. It is suggested that some turtles showed an ability to respond to the Earth’s magnetic field, and that this ability was compromised in some turtles who had small magnets attached to their heads by researchers. An olfactory factor might be also be present as described in the article's abstract , and note is also made of the sun, moon and stars as other possible factors present in aiding turtle navigation.

Original Article
http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2009/07/20/rspb.2009.0965.full.pdf+html