Researchers have found a surprising method for discovering seagrass meadows: green turtles.
Scientists in Saudi Arabia put satellite tags on the peckish reptiles to track them while they foraged. The 'heroes in a half shell' did not disappoint, leading researchers to 34 previously unknown seagrass sites in the Red Sea, increasing the region’s known area of seagrass by 13%.
These underwater meadows play an important role in capturing and storing carbon. Together with mangroves and salt marshes, they are more effective carbon sinks than rainforests.
Researchers in the Bahamas have used tiger sharks to discover seagrass but populations of these predators are depleted in many regions whereas turtle numbers are growing in some areas – not to mention being much easier to tag. The researchers just pop a satellite transmitter on an adult female while she’s nesting on the beach.
What's more, the sea turtles were about 20 times more reliable at identifying seagrass meadows than the Allen Coral Atlas – a public database that uses high resolution satellite imagery to map global coastlines.
Another benefit of using the turtles as guides is the price. Although some cutting-edge technology – planes fitted with special sensors – can be as accurate, it is significantly more expensive. This tech would cost several tens of millions of dollars, according to the study authors, whereas turtle power costs less than one percent of that amount.
“Countries need reliable, accurate data to make good policies for protection of the environment, which also protects their economies,” says lead author Carlos Duarte, Ibn Sina Distinguished Professor at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST, Saudi Arabia).
“Our study provides crucial data for the Red Sea, which will assist the many countries along it in formulating conservation strategies and blue carbon programs.”
Main image: green turtle in the Red Sea/Getty
More wildlife stories from around the world
- Alpha baboons: hormone study reveals surprising costs of being a dominant male
- Something exceptionally rare was just dug up at a dinosaur graveyard in the badlands of Canada
- Diver films incredible moment she's engulfed by enormous ball of baby pufferfish in the Maldives
- Racoons, pigs, rats and cats found in poop of San Francisco's coyotes. Here's why that's important
