These findings challenge existing hypotheses and provide important data for assessing risks from human activity and informing conservation efforts.

The study, funded largely in part by Florida RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence Program, was published this week in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, representing the largest satellite tracking dataset of wild-caught juvenile sea turtle behavior from the Gulf of Mexico during this life stage, spanning from 2011 to 2022.

“One of the main findings is where these sea turtles are and where they go in this life stage because we haven’t known much about it,â€� says ’22±Ê³ó¶Ù, who led the study alongside Nathan Putman and . Phillips says understanding these movement patterns among juvenile sea turtles will help guide conservation efforts to protect critical habitats for these species.

After hatching, sea turtles are known to leave their nests on land and enter the ocean where they spend their early years. This shift from terrestrial to oceanic habitat marks a critical transition in their life cycle to a life stage that has been understudied.

According to Mansfield, co-author of the study, professor of biology at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, and director of the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Marine Turtle Research Group, we are still learning about this life stage and it’s more complex than assumed.

“We don’t know what they’re eating, about their health, if and when they associate with floating algae called sargassum, which provides some protection,â€� Mansfield says.

The team of researchers tagged 131 juvenile sea turtles — 94 green turtles, 28 Kemp’s ridleys, five loggerheads, and four hawksbills — and tracked their movements using satellite-equipped, solar-powered platform transmitter terminals. These movements were compared with those of oceanographic surface drifters, floating objects used to study how sea turtle movements are influenced by ocean currents.

Researchers believe juvenile sea turtles swim offshore as an adaptive behavior to avoid predators such as birds, sharks and other fish, which are more abundant near the shoreline. Their small size makes them particularly vulnerable, so offshore waters can provide a safer refuge.

“One of the longstanding assumptions, is that juvenile sea turtles stay far offshore. Researchers call this the ‘oceanic life stage,’ which means off the continental shelf in waters deeper than 200 meters,� Phillips says. “However, what we found was that the turtles in this life stage are crossing over the continental shelf into neritic zones a lot more than we expected.�

A continental shelf is the gently sloping, shallow underwater area that extends between the shoreline and the continental slope, where the seabed drops steeply into the deep ocean at the shelf break. This shelf includes the neritic zone, which is the part of the ocean closest to the coast, characterized by nutrient-rich waters and a high concentration of marine life.

Phillips says the sea turtles were found crossing over to shallower waters and closer to shore, but it did not appear that they were transitioning to their next life stage, where they typically move to shallow habitats and feed off the bottom. Instead, the turtles seemed to approach the shore, then turned to avoid it.

“That was interesting because we had these passive drifters that we released with them and many of them washed up shore and none of the turtles did,� Phillips says.

She adds that if the turtles don’t behave like passive particles drifting with the currents and can actively swim and control their position, then existing movement models could consider both factors to correct errors in projections.

Existing hypotheses about the early life stage of most sea turtle species suggested they live exclusively in oceanic environments, drift passively with ocean currents and typically do not return to their previous habitat once they transitioned to a new one. However, these assumptions lack research into actual movement behavior.

“Historically, all our information about this young life stage has been limited to opportunistic sightings of these little, hard-to-see animals from boats passing by, tracking work on hatchlings in the first 24 hours after leaving nesting beaches, or laboratory studies,� Mansfield says.

Previous work also focused on the North Atlantic and on loggerheads, a species that commonly nested on the east coast of the U.S.

“I think it’s important to get data from different places and put the puzzle together to get a bigger picture of what’s going on,� Phillips says. “Researchers tracking this species were finding that they were staying offshore. But now that turtles are tracked from more places, we are finding that there are more nuances to what goes on. Loggerheads, for instance, we found stay off the continental shelf located in the west coast of Florida.�

Mansfield says sea turtle tracking can be costly, labor intensive, and the technology has limitations.

“It’s really hard to follow and manually track a little turtle over time,� Mansfield says. “You have to fuel a boat with researchers who have a strong stomach to go into the ocean. Historically, technology just wasn’t there to put a tag on a turtle and use satellites to be able to remotely track where they went. Tags were battery powered and as big as a brick.�

Prior to her time at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, Mansfield figured out a method to safely tag and effectively track small turtles, thanks to more reliable tagging technology, which played a role in conducting this study and achieving its results. She also credits their partnership with Inwater Research Group in helping to catch and track smaller sea turtles.

This research into sea turtle movement during the “lost years,� provides data for conservationists to assess and manage risks from human activity.

“T³ó±ð Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 was a bit of the origin story of this project,â€� Mansfield says. “If we have another oil spill, we need to know whether these animals [will be] transient through an area, stuck there due to currents, or if they’ll end up somewhere else.â€�

Data from this study is already driving conservation efforts, including a proposal for critical habitat designation under the Endangered Species Act for green sea turtles. This designation would complement earlier tracking data led by Mansfield, which established critical habitat for loggerheads — the sargassum algae nursery.

Mansfield and Phillips say if assumptions are that these animals are strictly oceanic, then they may not be protecting them completely or addressing what they need for their eventual recovery.

“If sea turtles are occurring on the continental shelf, we suggest renaming this life stage to ‘dispersal stage’ to account for their behavior,� Mansfield says. “This is important nuance in their life history, and the new terminology reflects a better understanding of sea turtle behavior, revealing more about these lost years.�

Funding information

Funding and support for this research was provided in part by the NOAA Oil Spill Supplemental Spend Plan, NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center, Florida RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence Program administered through the Florida Institute of Oceanography, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Friends of Gumbo Limbo Gordon J. Gilbert Grant, Microwave Telemetry Christiane Howey Rising Scholar Award, U.S. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships Program, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Boyd Lyon Memorial Fellowship, National Research Council Research Associateship Program, and the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½.

Researchers’ credentials

Katrina Phillips, doctoral graduate, integrative and conservation biology, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½; postdoctoral researcher, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Katherine Mansfield, professor, Department of Biology, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½; director, Marine Turtle Research Group; and Davis-Shine Endowed Professorship in Conservation Biology

Nathan Putman, senior scientist, LGL Ecological Research Associates

As she grew older, Veelenturf began to recognize the gap between environmental policy and the direct implementation of such policies. Wanting to bridge the divide, she set out to work in the field and conduct research that could make a difference at a political level by contributing to the creation of new conservation policies.

In 2019, Veelenturf launched her own nonprofit organization, The Leatherback Project, to address the issues threatening turtles and ocean ecosystems. After searching for NGOs (non-governmental organizations) to join that would support her vision for combatting threats to leatherbacks at sea and taking a rights-based approach, she realized that there were none. Determined to be a voice for the species, she decided to create her own nonprofit and advocate for the implementation of science-led, high-impact conservation measures and laws designed to establish the rights of this endangered species and ecosystems. Veelenturf knew that leatherbacks could act as flagship species, meaning that by discussing the threats facing their survival, she could draw attention to many of the most pressing threats facing the ocean today.

And the hard work and dedication to conservation efforts is being recognized around the globe.

In addition to being named one of the 2024 Future for Nature Award winners, the University of Rhode Island College of Life Science 2024 10 Under 10 Awardee and The Explorers Club 2024 New Explorer of the Year for her work in exploring new legal pathways to protect Nature as a scientist, her work has been featured on the front page of the Washington Post, and on CBS News, and in Smithsonian Magazine.

Veelenturf was also recognized by the United Nations Development Program Ocean Innovation Challenge as one of the 2022 winners and award recipients. Additionally, she’s been named a 2020 National Geographic Early Career Leader, a Scientist with the United Nations Harmony with Nature Programme, a Mission Blue Hope Spot Champion, a Fellow and United Nations Youth Representative for The Explorers Club, and one of the 2023 Ocean Youth Leaders of the year through the Sustainable Ocean Alliance.

Veelentuf now leads a team of scientists, local community members, storytellers, and students championing the conservation of leatherbacks and other threatened and endangered marine life through community empowerment, research and advocacy. Their work led to the passing of Panama’s Right of Nature Law 287 in 2022, which can inspire the passage of such laws in other nations around the world.

She’s also conducting research in Kate Mansfield’s while working towards her Ph.D. in Integrative and Conservation Biology at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½. Her strong desire to work with Mansfield was the primary reason she came to the university. Veelenturf, a native of Norfolk, Massachusetts, says she wanted to learn from the best and collaborate with someone equally passionate about marine conservation.

“T³ó±ð ocean is the largest ecosystem in the world, so preserving marine life to protect the seas is a vital effort,â€� Veelenturf says. “Today, one of the greatest threats to the marine ecosystems is fisheries bycatch, which is the unintentional capture of marine animals that are not the target species of a commercial fishing operation. It is a paramount issue, causing problems for both sea creatures and industrial fishermen alike and often results in the unnecessary deaths of marine life.â€�

One species most impacted by bycatch is the leatherback sea turtle, which is Veelenturf’s primary research focus. She aims to ideate creative solutions to complex environmental problems, including through the recognition of the legal intrinsic rights of these animals and their coastal and open ocean habitats. Without drastic measures, certain subpopulations of the leatherback turtle are in danger of becoming functionally extinct.

Over the years, Veelenturf has conducted marine research and advocacy in various countries around the globe, including Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, Equatorial Guinea and Costa Rica. Through a National Geographic Society Early Career Grant awarded in 2019, she became a National Geographic Explorer and initiated a pilot project to study sea turtles in the Pearl Islands Archipelago of Panama. She has since gone on to be a Scientist with the United Nations Harmony with Nature Programme, support numerous international conservation organizations, and serve as an advisor to various governments fighting for the Rights of Nature.

Veelenturf completed her bachelor’s degree in marine biology with a minor in wildlife conservation from the University of Rhode Island and her master’s in biology from Purdue University.

The visit showcased the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge and its successful sea turtle conservation efforts.

Since the refuge’s establishment as a conservation area in 1991, due in large part to sea turtle nesting data collected by ±«°ä¹ó’s , sea turtle nesting numbers in the area have rebounded.

The 13-mile area of the Carr Refuge surveyed by ±«°ä¹ó’s Marine Turtle Research Group now hosts about one-third of all green turtle nesting in Florida, while also hosting about 12% of Florida’s loggerhead nests.

Green sea turtle nesting on the beach rose from tens to hundreds of nests in the 1980s to the thousands by the mid-2010s. The area of the refuge monitored by Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ now averages about 9,000 green sea turtle nests each year, with some years approaching 16,000 nests.

Because of this success, the green turtle’s North Atlantic population was downlisted under the Endangered Species Act from endangered to threatened in 2016.

“This year we are experiencing what seems to be record-breaking green turtle nesting throughout the state, with a large proportion of nests on beaches monitored by Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½,â€� says Erin Seney, an associate research scientist with the group.

The Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973 to provide protection to endangered and threatened plants and animals. Green sea turtles and loggerheads were added to the list in 1978.

“T³ó±ð green turtle was heavily exploited for its meat, and local populations were likely small decades before the ESA went into effect,â€� she says. “T³ó±ð nest numbers we now see on the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge and elsewhere highlight the importance of conservation efforts that have occurred both in the water and on land, including protection of the coastline within the refuge. While the Carr Refuge’s beaches were protected with loggerheads in mind, they have since also become a highly important nesting area for green turtles.â€�

From 1982 to the present, ±«°ä¹ó’s Marine Turtle Research Group has continued to collect data within the northern 13 miles of the refuge.

“Sea turtles are long-lived and very late maturing animalsâ€� says Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Marine Turtle Research Group Director , an associate professor in ±«°ä¹ó’s .

“T³ó±ðse animals won’t mature until at least age 25 to 35, so it takes decades before they are able to reproduce and contribute back to their populations,â€� Mansfield says. “This means that hatchlings emerging from nests laid on the Carr Refuge in the 1990s may only now be returning to these natal beaches as adults to breed. We need decades of data in order to effectively conserve these species.â€�

Seney says their long-term dataset has shown variable but generally high nesting for loggerheads, modest but generally increasing leatherback nesting, and large growth in green turtle nesting.

About the Visit

The guests to the refuge included USFWS Director Martha Williams; USFWS Deputy Director of Operations Wendi Weber; NOAA Fisheries Director, Office of Protected Resources, Kim Damon-Randall; and NOAA Deputy Assistant Administrator for Operations (Acting) James Landon.

The Marine Turtle Research Group — including students Katie Martin and Tiffany Dawson —  and USFWS worked together to host the guests that included members of NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, the National Wildlife Refuge System, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Brevard County and Indian River County. Three of the officials who lead federal and regional sea turtle programs were also Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ alums who had been members of the Marine Turtle Research Group as master’s students.

Guests were taken on a permitted nighttime sea turtle walk to observe nesting sea turtles and Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s ongoing nighttime research.

The turtles did not disappoint, as the group experienced the Carr Refuge during the peak of the loggerhead season and during a busy green turtle year.

Walking a short distance from a beach access, the group observed the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Marine Turtle Research Group measure and tag several turtles as part of the long-term research efforts by the lab.

The guests then met back up on the beach at sunrise to view the many loggerhead and green sea turtle tracks, or crawls, left on the beach the night before and learn how Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ researchers survey the beach and mark nests to later monitor for signs of hatching.

For the sunrise event, they also heard from Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ biology master’s student Merope Moonstone and Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ biology undergraduate intern Katie Johnsen about their efforts to protect sea turtles, including Moonstone’s research examining seasonal and climatic effects on sea turtle incubation duration and reproductive success.

An added bonus was the discovery of a loggerhead nest emergence, sometimes called a “boil,” just as the group was parting ways.

“It was a privilege to visit the incredible Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, one of the most important sea turtle nesting sites in the Western Hemisphere,â€� says Kim Damon-Randall, director of the Office of Protected Resources at NOAA Fisheries.

“T³ó±ð recovery story for green turtles nesting in the refuge is inspiring — nesting in the state of Florida increased from around 4,000 nests in the 1980s to more than 230,000 in the 2010s,â€� she says. “T³ó±ð tremendous partnership between NOAA Fisheries, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, local governments (including Brevard County and Indian River County), and others is critical to protect loggerhead, green, and leatherback sea turtles and their habitat. The Endangered Species Act provides an important framework to help us achieve our conservation and recovery goals. There is more work to do, but the 50th anniversary of the ESA is an inspiring milestone and an opportunity to reflect on conservation progress including green sea turtle recovery efforts.”

Mansfield says that as the Endangered Species Act moves into the next 50 years, it is important to remember that some species, like sea turtles, may take decades or centuries to recover and that short-term recoveries like what is seen now with green turtles need to be nurtured over decades, not just years.

“Sea turtle research and conservation is slow science,� she says. “We need generations or decades of monitoring to ensure that the conservation successes stick. The Endangered Species Act helps ensure that sea turtles will be around for our, and their, next generations.�

About ±«°ä¹ó’s Marine Turtle Research Group

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ began consistently monitoring the Brevard County “South Beaches” throughout the main sea turtle nesting season in 1982 under the leadership of the late Llewellyn Ehrhart, more commonly referred to as “Doc.”

The data collected by Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ on loggerhead turtle nesting showed that it was an area with high-density nesting and demonstrated that it was an area worthy of protection for this ESA-listed species, as well as nesting habitat for smaller numbers of endangered green turtles and leatherbacks.

In tandem with their ongoing, long-term nesting beach monitoring, the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Marine Turtle Research Group has also had a consistently operating, in-water research and monitoring program in the Indian River Lagoon since 1982, which has given them a better understanding of local inshore populations of sea turtles, which are primarily juvenile green turtles.

Long-term, in-water datasets are especially difficult to maintain for sea turtles, and the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ lab is able to provide a “snapshot” of populations about 10 to 15 years before most of the turtles would mature and return to the beach as adults, as well as information on health, growth, genetics and diet.

Mansfield pioneered methods to satellite track the youngest and most mysterious ages of sea turtles, the sea turtle “lost years.� Her early work helped inform the National Marine Fisheries Service managers when establishing critical habitat for loggerhead turtles under the Endangered Species Act.

Sargassum, a floating algae found offshore, is a critical nursery habitat for young turtles and this was the largest designation of critical habitat to date. The lab’s work has helped the researchers determine where green sea turtles may go during their “lost years,� and data collected by the lab on wild-caught “lost years� turtles in the Gulf of Mexico are contributing to the designation of critical habitat for green turtles under the Endangered Species Act.

The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Marine Turtle Research Group is unique in that it studies sea turtles in the wild throughout their long lives. The lab has provided hands-on graduate training and internships for hundreds of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ students throughout its history. Alumni have gone on to a variety of careers, including generations of scientists who have run, or currently run, sea turtle programs at the national and state level and many more who use their past sea turtle experiences to educate others and contribute other types of environmental and conservation work.

The discovery, which is detailed in a recent study in the journal Royal Society Open Science, sheds light on the role the gene variants, known as MHC class I  alleles, play in potentially protecting sea turtles from the disease.

This is the first time researchers have studied variation in MHC genes in green sea turtles. MHC proteins act as a gatekeeper of an adaptive immune system. If they recognize a pathogen threat, then the immune system responds specifically to it.

Fibropapillomatosis, or FP, causes sea turtles to develop tumors on their bodies, which can limit their mobility and also their health by interfering with their ability to catch and eat prey.

Researchers are still working to uncover the causes of FP, which could include environmental contamination. They are also trying to figure out why some sea turtles, such as loggerheads, are rarely observed with FP, while others, such as green sea turtles are often afflicted.

About half of the green sea turtles observed in the Indian River Lagoon have FP, researchers say.

Central Florida’s Atlantic coastline hosts about one-third of all green turtle nests in the state, and sea turtle health is important because the animals contribute to healthy oceans and coastlines by grazing and maintaining sea grass beds.

All sea turtles are categorized as threatened or endangered because of threats from pollution, coastal development and fishing, in addition to infectious diseases.

Better understanding the role genes play in protecting sea turtles can inform intervention strategies, such as captive breeding using turtles who have genetic defense against FP, says study co-author Anna Savage, an associate professor with ±«°ä¹ó’s Department of Biology and a member of ±«°ä¹ó’s Genomics and Bioinformatics research cluster.

“Just the baseline knowledge of how much variation is out there and is it relating to any certain phenotypes is really valuable, just for looking at how things change into the future,� Savage says. “But then also, if and when we do find really strong relationships between particular genetic variants and disease susceptibility, that’s a possible management tool if you need to intervene for the population to have a chance, if you know which of these MHC alleles are really important for surviving disease threats.�

The study’s lead author, Katherine Martin, a doctoral student in ±«°ä¹ó’s Department of Biology, spearheaded the research in which MHC class I genes were sequenced from 268 green sea turtles and 88 loggerhead sea turtles.

The samples came from ±«°ä¹ó’s Marine Turtle Research Group’s database of more than 30,000 Indian River Lagoon sea turtle records dating back to the early 1980s.

The researchers found 116 new-to-science alleles, some of which seemed to be associated either with the development of FP but also potentially the regression of tumors.

However, the researchers say even with all the new alleles discovered, they are still going to need more sampling to get a full picture of what role MHC alleles play in protecting sea turtles.

“We kind of have limited time to figure out what’s under the hood of their immune system,â€� Martin says. “And so I think studies like this show that there’s still a lot to learn about these organisms.â€�

The researchers’ next steps include expansion of sampling of green sea turtles and loggerheads as well as sampling and analyzing genetic information from other sea turtle species.

The work was funded by the Florida Sea Turtle License Plate Program and builds on previous studies, including research that looked at leeches as a possible vector that transmits FP to sea turtles.

The study also included co-author Kate Mansfield, director of ±«°ä¹ó’s Marine Turtle Research Group. Mansfield is an associate professor in ±«°ä¹ó’s Department of Biology and a member of ±«°ä¹ó’s Sustainable Coastal Systems research cluster.

“I always joke our bimonthly team building exercise is fixing something on the boats,� says Kate Mansfield, an associate professor and director of the MTRG.

Researchers will now be using a new and specially outfitted 17-foot Brunswick Commercial & Government Products (BCGP) 170 Guardian for their work. The craft was provided by donations from the Folke H. Peterson Foundation and National Save the Sea Turtle Foundation, and made possible with a purchase discount from the Brunswick boat group companies that include BCGP, Boston Whaler and Mercury Marine.

“Boston Whaler and the Brunswick Commercial & Government Products Group supports environmental resource management and research efforts around the world,â€� says Kris Neff, president of Boston Whaler. “Our boats are ideally designed to handle the rigors and long-term serviceability of demanding applications, so we are confident that we are helping make a difference. Supporting the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ and the Marine Turtle Research Group is particularly satisfying because we are a Florida-based company, and because conserving sea life directly aligns with our customers interests as boaters.â€�

The MTRG is respected by scientists around the globe for its work unraveling sea turtle mysteries. Their legacy includes contributing to the establishment of the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge — a critical pocket of protected shoreline for annual nest sites. In 2021, they were the first to track young green sea turtles to the Sargasso Sea during their “lost years.�

Some of their research happens on shore, but much more comes from interacting with sea turtles on the water. Strict protocols allow them to safely net the turtles without endangering other marine life in the Indian River Lagoon, particularly dolphins and manatees. Deploying the net requires a careful choreography of boats, a procedure that quickly falls apart when an engine fails.

“I need to know that the boat is safe and functional,� Mansfield says. “If we’re getting knocked around by the wind and the engine conks out, it’s dangerous for us and the animals.�

When MTRG began working with Boston Whaler to order a new boat they had several specific requests, including stripping all the creature comforts, like coolers. With limited room aboard and multiple people handling different roles, it’s critical the net doesn’t snag on anything, Mansfield says.

Another customization that sets this new craft apart is the additional balancing and buoyancy. Full-grown turtles weigh hundreds of pounds and hauling them, and even smaller turtles, aboard takes coordination. A heavy soggy net on the bow can also skew the balance.

Mansfield says the new boat offers foremost increased efficiency and safety for the MTRG research team, but it’s also a win for turtle research.

“MTRG has been providing critical insights into the habits and behaviors of sea turtles for decades, and we still have so much more to learn,� said Larry Wood, research coordinator for the National Save the Sea Turtle Foundation. “We are excited to partner with them and play a part in furthering their research.�

“I know this one is going to hold up under the stress. It essentially ensures our long-term projects continue,� Mansfield says.

The most popular research stories of 2021 focused on threats to our survival and opportunities to advance our species — from the impact of sea rise to technology that promises to propel our exploration of the solar system. Stories about COVID-19 and workplace behavior also made the top 10.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ shares its stories to demonstrate the impact Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ research is having on the world. The stories showcase faculty and students who are making a difference. In 2021, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ research stories had a combined, total potential reach of more than 8.2 billion possible views worldwide via newspapers, magazines, news websites and select television news placements. The number does not include all TV placements nor a total number for December. The number is based on the number of visitors to a media outlet from both desktop and mobile devices who could have seen the stories from that source. That’s compared to a combined, total reach of more than 7.3 billion potential views in 2020.

The top 10 list is based on the number of media placements and the reach they earned. The number of views the stories received on Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Today is also considered. The stories were generated from ±«°ä¹ó’s  and colleges.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ research appeared in places such as the New York Times, the Smithsonian magazine, ¶Ù¾±²õ³¦´Ç±¹±ð°ùÌýmagazine, CBS This Morning and CNN. The Daily Mail in the UK is among a group of international publications that shared Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ research content. All local newspapers and television stations shared at least one research story in 2021. Consistently sharing stories on certain topics also help media identify some of ±«°ä¹ó’s faculty and students as experts, whom they call upon time after time. Some of our space experts are now featured regularly on WMFE and several television stations, and they provide commentary for almost every space launch. One of ±«°ä¹ó’s advances in artificial intelligence was even the subject of

The top 10 research stories of 2021 are:

1. Flying at Speeds up to Mach 17 Could Become Reality with ±«°ä¹ó’s Developing Propulsion System
2. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Study Shows Masks, Ventilation Stop COVID Spread Better than Social Distancing
3. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Team Develops Artificial Intelligence that can Detect Sarcasm in Social Media
4. Virgin Orbit Launches Rocket off a 747, puts 9 Satellites in Space
5. Coastal Changes Worsen Nuisance Flooding on Many U.S. Shorelines, Study Finds
6. Clues Emerge: How Harmless Bacteria Go Rogue Turning into Deadly Flesh-eating Variants
7. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Scientist’s Unique Camera Will Investigate the Moon’s South Pole
8. Legendary Sargasso Sea May be ‘Sea Turtles’ Destination during Mysterious ‘Lost Years’
9. Rude Behavior at Work Not an Epidemic Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Study Shows
10. New Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Study Examines Leeches for Role in Major Disease of Sea Turtles in Florida

Some research is so impactful that the stories keep getting attention even years later. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ had three stories published before 2021 that generated significant online and/or placements in media this year. They are:

ADHD Kids Can Be Still – If They’re Not Straining Their Brains (2017)

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Researchers Develop Groundbreaking New Rocket-Propulsion System (2020)

Study Shows Keeping Gratitude Journal Reduces Gossip, Incivility in Workplace (2020)

In a study led by a Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ researcher and published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, researchers presented evidence of baby green sea turtles arriving at the Sargasso Sea after entering the ocean off the east coast of Florida.

The study was the first time that green sea turtles have been tracked during their early “lost years,� which is defined as the time between hatching from their nests along Florida’s Atlantic coast and heading into the ocean and their “teenage years,� when they return to coastal habitats after several years in the open ocean. Not much is known about where sea turtles go during these years, which is where the “lost years� description comes from. The new findings echo the team’s previous research that showed baby loggerhead sea turtles arrive at the Sargasso Sea.

The results are helping to solve the mystery of where the turtles go and will also inform efforts to conserve the threatened animals, especially during their delicate first years at sea.

Florida’s Atlantic coastline is a major nesting area for green and loggerhead sea turtles, which are iconic species in conservation efforts and important for their role in helping maintain ocean ecosystems, says Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Biology Associate Professor Kate Mansfield, who led the study in collaboration with Jeanette Wyneken at Florida Atlantic University.

Scientists have long assumed that after hatching and going into the ocean, baby sea turtles would passively drift in sea currents, such as those circulating around the Atlantic Ocean, and ride those currents until their later juvenile years.

“That green turtles and loggerheads would continue in the currents, but that some might leave the currents and go into the Sargasso Sea was not ever considered or predicted by long-held hypotheses and the assumptions in the field,� Mansfield says. “We found that the green turtles actively oriented to go into the Sargasso Sea and in even greater numbers than the loggerheads tracked in our earlier work. Granted, our sample sizes aren’t huge, but enough turtles made this journey that it really throws into question our long-held beliefs about the early lives of sea turtles.�

The Sargasso Sea, located off the east coast of the U.S. in the North Atlantic Ocean, has often been featured in popular culture, such as in Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, as a place where ships could become derelict when trying to travel through thick mats of the floating, brown, Sargassum algae for which it is named.

The researchers were able to track the turtles by attaching advanced, solar-powered tracking devices, about an inch in length, to their shells. This also required determining the optimum adhesive for applying the sensor, which was different for the green sea turtles than for loggerheads because of the greens’ waxier-feeling shells. The tracking device is designed to fall off after a few months and does not hurt the turtles or inhibit the turtles’ shell growth or behavior, Mansfield says.

In the current study, 21 green sea turtles less than a year old, had transmitters affixed and were released into the Gulf Stream ocean currents about 10 miles offshore from the beach where they were born. The turtle release dates were from 2012 to 2013, and the researchers were able to track the turtles for up to 152 days.

Of the 21 turtles, 14 departed the Gulf Stream and the North Atlantic gyre of circulating currents and entered the western or northern Sargasso Sea region in the western Atlantic Ocean, according to the study. This is compared to seven out of 17 loggerhead turtles that left the Gulf Stream and entered the Sargasso Sea in the previous study.

Wyneken, a professor of biological sciences and director of Florida Atlantic University’s Marine Science Laboratory at Gumbo Limbo Environmental Complex, worked with Mansfield to collect, raise, tag and release the turtles.

She says the research is important because it sheds light on where the baby turtles go during a delicate period in their lives.

“T³ó±ðse studies in which we learn where little sea turtles go to start growing up are fundamental to sound sea turtle conservation,â€� Wyneken says. “If we don’t know where they are and what parts of the ocean are important to them, we are doing conservation blindfolded.â€�

Jiangang Luo, PhD, a scientist with the Tarpon Bonefish Research Center at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and study co-author, has a background in mathematical biology, oceanography and advanced scientific data visualization. As part of the research team, he helped process and analyze the data and graphed and animated the results.

“It feels great to see how the little turtles are traveling and utilizing the ocean,â€� Luo says. “T³ó±ð ocean is our future, and we must have the ocean to save the sea turtles.â€�

The Sargasso Sea Commission, which works as a steward for the area with support from multiple governments and collaborating partners, will use data from the research as part of its upcoming ecosystem diagnostic project, says the commission’s Programme Manager Teresa Mackey.

The project will quantify threats and their potential impact on the Sargasso Sea, includingplastics pollution and commercial activities, as well as investigate ways to counter challenges the area faces and establish a baseline for ongoing monitoring and adaptive management.

“Dr. Mansfield’s research into the critical habitat that this area provides for turtles early in their life cycle gives concrete evidence of the importance of the Sargasso Sea for endangered and critically endangered species and is one of the many reasons why conservation of this high-seas ecosystem is vitally important for marine biodiversity,� Mackey says.

±«°ä¹ó’s , which Mansfield directs, has been one of the commission’s collaborators since 2017.

Mansfield says next steps for the “lost years� research will include looking more closely at differences in orientation and swimming behavior between turtle species, understanding the role Sargassum plays in early sea turtle development, and testing newer, smaller, and more accurate tracking devices to learn more about the places the baby turtles go and how they interact with their environment.

The research was funded largely through the Florida Sea Turtle Specialty License Plate grants program, Disney Conservation Fund and the Save Our Seas Foundation.

Mansfield received her doctorate in marine science from William & Mary University’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science. She joined ±«°ä¹ó’s Department of Biology, part of ±«°ä¹ó’s , in 2013. In addition to directing ±«°ä¹ó’s Marine Turtle Research Group, Mansfield is a member of ±«°ä¹ó’s Sustainable Coastal Systems cluster and .

The refuge, which extends from southern Brevard County into Indian River County, is one of the most important nesting grounds in Florida for threatened and endangered sea turtles. Leatherback, loggerhead and green sea turtles are all known to use the refuge during their nesting season, which runs from March to October. ±«°ä¹ó’s Marine Turtle Research Group has monitored the sea turtles on this beach and elsewhere on the Central Florida coast for decades, providing reliable information about the health and breeding habits of the turtles as a way to inform conservation efforts and provide scientific advisory service for beach and dune restoration.

“We’ve been out daily since the hurricane passed,� said Katrina Phillips, a doctoral candidate who is a senior member of the research group. “Based on our surveys of the Brevard portion of the refuge, we estimate that Dorian washed away about 20 percent of the loggerhead nests from this season and about 45 percent of green turtle nests from its season. That’s more than 8,000 nests.�

Most of the nesting turtles dodged a bullet. The peak of the season for leatherbacks and loggerheads had already passed by the time Dorian arrived, but it was just past prime hatching time for the green turtles.

“Hurricanes are never good for people or turtles,â€� says Kate Mansfield, a Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ biology professor and director of the research group. “But this one storm isn’t going to doom any of these species. We’ll have to observe and look at the total numbers at the end of the season before we can say definitively what the impact may be, but thankfully Dorian hit past the peak season for two of our three residents. The turtles will be back to nest again in future seasons.â€�

Phillips said the teams of students and scientists who have been conducting surveys on the beach saw green turtles laying eggs a day after Dorian passed and hatchlings heading into the sea have been observed.

By the numbers:

Leatherback (endangered)

Nest March to July

Nests before Dorian: 36

Estimated loss: 1

Loggerheads (threatened)

Nests April to September

Total nests before Dorian: 10,808

Estimated lost: 2,260

Green Turtles (threatened)

Nest May to October

Nests before Dorian: 15,305

Estimated lost: 6,700

If Dorian hat hit during the loggerhead’s peak nesting time, it could have been much worse. Loggerheads tend to nest on the beach in front of the dunes, which offers no protection against the pounding waves of a storm. Green turtles tend to nest a little higher on the beach, closer to the base of the dunes or in the dunes themselves.

“T³ó±ð green sea turtle season is still going strong,â€� Phillips said. “We’ve seen over 400 new green turtle nests since Dorian, and expect nesting to continue through October.â€�

Research faculty and student are still conducting surveys through October and will report final numbers to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and other agencies.

±«°ä¹ó’s animation programs were ranked No. 4 among the Top 40 Public Animation Schools and Colleges in the nation by the Animation Career Review.

The films produced by this year’s senior character animation students are more than art for art’s sake. Both “Ukelaylaâ€� and “Night Lightâ€� are decidedly message-driven. And after two years spent creating the films, students in ±«°ä¹ó’s character animation program are working to ensure their films reach new audiences beyond premiere night on Monday, April 23, at the Center for Emerging Media in downtown Orlando. The showings are free and open to the public.

Meet Layla of “Ukelayla�

“Ukelayla� tells the story of Layla, a young girl living with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), a motor speech disorder that makes it difficult for children to send oral messages from their brain to their mouth. Children with CAS will often know what they want to say but are unable to verbally communicate it.

“It was really important that Layla portray herself the way that somebody with [childhood apraxia of speech] would,� Thomas says.

Layla’s frustration with the inability to express herself leaves her isolated, but she eventually learns to express herself through the power of music and friendship. The film’s title is a mash-up of the main character’s name and the ukulele, the instrument Layla uses as a medium to communicate.

“I wanted to bring light to this situation that many kids go through and give them representation in media where there really hasn’t been any,� says senior Character Animation major Haleigh Mooney, who pitched the story for “Ukelayla� and acts as student director on the film.

To make sure they got the details right, the “Ukelayla� team partnered with the nonprofit organization Childhood Apraxia of Speech Association of North America to ensure that CAS was depicted authentically.

For the film’s production manager Tabitha Thomas, “Ukelayla� was especially personal. The senior’s younger brother has CAS, which provided her with insight into the disorder.

“It really spoke to me,� she says. “I would call my mom, and she would tell me stories about my brother when he was younger and how he would act at that age,� Thomas says. “We did a lot of research. It was really important that Layla portray herself the way that somebody with CAS would.�

Meet Fin of “Night Light�

The film “Night Light� follows a baby sea turtle named Fin on his journey from nesting beach to the ocean.

The film touches on the threat of light pollution to hatchlings, who are drawn to the brightest nearby light.

The film touches on the threat of light pollution to hatchlings, who are drawn to the brightest nearby light. Artificial light from sources like street lamps can distract baby sea turtles away from the reflection of natural moonlight off the ocean’s surface, exposing them to moving vehicles and other threats. On his journey, Fin is joined by Abueluna, a maternal spirit, and Lumin, a friendly light bulb. Abueluna supplies wisdom and guidance by following the moon as a natural light source, while Lumin represents humankind’s curiosity and ignorance about nature.

The “Night Lightâ€� team consulted with sea turtle expert and Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ associate professor of biology Kate Mansfield, as well as the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Marine Turtle Research Group, to ensure accuracy in even the smallest details, such as nailing the texture of Fin’s shell. Students from the program also visited nesting sites in Melbourne Beach with the research group to see the sea mammals up close. The film’s creators were careful not to dissuade people from interacting with nature, but rather inform the audience on how to do so safely.

“We’re saying that there is a correct way to have a relationship with nature. People need to know that because it affects the turtles,� says senior Character Animation major and co-art director Jonathan de la Uz. “It’s better if we can teach people the right way to be with nature instead of separating people from it completely.�

The teams hope the short animated films live on beyond the premiere. The “Ukelayla� team hopes to provide DVDs of the film to speech clinics for children, while the “Night Light� creators are in talks with the Brevard Zoo and the Barrier Island Sanctuary to start educational showings for visitors. And for about a year after the premiere, the films will be submitted to short film festivals. Both teams have opened ongoing fundraising pages to help pay for admission to the festivals.

More About ±«°ä¹ó’s Animation Programs

The animation programs at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ continue to gain national recognition. Along with experimental animation, the character animation program was ranked No. 4 among the Top 40 Public Animation Schools and Colleges in the nation and No. 3 among of Top 10 Animation Schools and Colleges in the South by the Animation Career Review this year.

“You’re not here to suffer consequences for trying something new and not succeeding,� Mooney says.“You’re here to find out what you’re good at.�

The two-year specialization accepts only 30 students each year and prepares and trains them for careers in the animation and visual effects industry as animators, modelers, texture artists, and more. Graduates have gone on to careers with film and visual effects giants like Disney, Universal, Framestore and Blizzard Entertainment.

“We have students at all the major studios, and also working in gaming and special effects,� says Lecturer Jo Anne Adams, who has worked with the character animation program since 2008 and served as the faculty director for this year’s student films. “Because of their success, employers are noticing us and then students are more attracted [to the program].�

As a result of its exclusivity, the program is intensive, with students devoting anywhere from 40 to 80 hours per week on their films.

“It’s like a full-time job. The farther into the semester you get, the more you’ll see people coming in earlier and staying here later and later,� Thomas says.

And even though the hours can seem daunting, faculty members foster an environment that allows room for failure without fear of punishment.

“T³ó±ð faculty here really help you try to learn,â€� says Mooney. “You’re not here to suffer consequences for trying something new and not succeeding. You’re here to find out what you’re good at.â€�

Reserve free tickets to the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ School of Visual Arts & Design’s Character Animation Premiere. 

Researchers found significant dune erosion that swept away some nests and exposed the eggs of others. It was a record year for green turtle nesting along the refuge’s beaches in southern Brevard County, but storm surge due to hurricane Irma destroyed many unhatched loggerhead and green turtle nests. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ researchers estimate that of nests laid through the end of September, more than half of the season’s green turtle nests and a quarter of loggerhead nests were lost.

Both species are listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, and Florida hosts the majority of both species’ U.S. nests. The section of the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge monitored by Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ hosts about a third of the Florida’s green turtle nests.

“Last year with Hurricane Matthew, we lucked out because it was a low green turtle year,â€� said Kate Mansfield, assistant professor and director of the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Marine Turtle Research Group, noting that green turtles typically have alternating high and low nesting years. “This year was an extraordinarily exciting year for green turtle nesting, breaking all previous records within the refuge and continuing the conservation success story for the species. Unfortunately, we had another big hurricane this year, highlighting the need for continued conservation efforts in the area.â€�

Green turtles set a new record in 2017, laying 15,744 nests in the sands of the 13 miles of the Brevard County portion of the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge monitored by Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½. An estimated 8,830 of those were lost to the storm. Green turtles nest later in the season than other species, so many of their eggs hadn’t hatched by the time Irma hit. Some 56 percent of total green nests were lost, an estimated 81 percent of those that were still incubating.

Along the same stretch of beach, loggerheads laid 9,690 nests in 2017, but most had already hatched when Irma passed through the region. Still, an estimated 2,290 loggerhead nests were lost. That’s 24 percent of the total loggerhead nests and 91 percent of those that were still incubating when hurricane-driven storm surge came ashore.

The refuge is located at the northern extent of dense leatherback nesting in Florida, but the species nest in far fewer numbers, laying just 23 nests in 2017 within the portion of the refuge monitored by Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½. But they nest earlier than greens and loggerheads, and all of the leatherback nests had finished incubating before the hurricane.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ also monitors another 16.4 miles of beaches north of the wildlife refuge, at Patrick Air Force Base and in central Brevard County. Considerably fewer nests are laid there than in the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, but the numbers are still high compared to many other parts of the country. On those beaches, an estimated 642 of 2,251 green turtle nests and 831 of 6,229 loggerhead nests were lost due to the hurricane.

The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Marine Turtle Research Group also found evidence that some green turtle hatchlings have emerged since the hurricane. And some turtles have continued to come ashore and lay new nests. Within the wildlife refuge, 466 new green turtle nests and eight new loggerhead nests were laid in September following Irma. Along the other Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½-monitored beaches, 72 new green nests and three new loggerhead nests were laid.

Still, the nests aren’t out of danger.

“Green turtles are still nesting, but recent extremely high tides have likely wiped out many of those new nests, too,â€� said Erin Seney, an assistant research scientist with the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ group. “T³ó±ð good news is that the nesting habits of sea turtles do protect them from large-scale nest loss and make them more resilient to this kind of event. They lay multiple nests per nesting season, roughly every other year for 30 years or more.â€�

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ researchers have run a sea turtle monitoring and research program on the beaches of the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge in southern Brevard County for 35 years. Their findings about sea turtle nesting activity are among the reasons the refuge was created in 1991. Last year, the university and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service signed a landmark agreement that formalized ±«°ä¹ó’s use of refuge facilities and established a protocol that will allow Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ to build research facilities and a plan that will give Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ oversight of the facilities for 40 years or more.

To support sea turtle research at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, visit www.ucffoundation.org/seaturtleresearch.