Researchers Discover Highly Social Group Of Turtles Off La Jolla Shores

Speaker 1: 00:00 One Marine researcher says they are among the most beautiful things you can see in the ocean. And they're friendly. Scientists have been studying a small group of east Pacific green sea turtles who seem to have found an ocean home off LA Jolla shores. Finding the four turtles has surprised biologists because the water is cooler here than in the tropics. These creatures usually prefer. And because of the way they've been behaving with divers, that turtles seem to like hanging out with humans. Johnnie Mae is biologists, Megan Hannah and environmental analyst for the Navy whose research into the LA Jolla turtles was just published in the journal frontiers in Marine science and Megan, welcome to the program. Hi, Speaker 2: 00:44 Thank you so much. It's nice to be here Speaker 1: 00:46 For those among us who have never seen an east Pacific green sea turtle. Can you tell us what makes them different from the average turtle? Speaker 2: 00:55 Typically, I think what people are used to seeing are the, um, Hawaiian greens, which have a therapist, which is their shell that is more caramel and color. Whereas the east Pacific green turtles have a shell. That's a little bit darker olive, um, almost a black color and their plaster on the underside of their belly is going to be typically a little bit more yellow or gray. And how big are they? Well, shockingly enough in, um, general, in fact, in San Diego bay, we have some that are almost four feet ranging from like 300 to 400 pounds at the largest. And then I'd say in LA Jolla, they were probably closer to about two and a half to three and a half feet, much smaller. Speaker 1: 01:37 And there's some sort of debate about how long they live. Everybody knows they are long lived creatures, but can they make it up to 100 years? If Speaker 2: 01:46 You ask my boss, Dr. Jeffrey seminar, I think he would say yes, about 90 to a hundred years. I think we have documentation of at least 70 years so far, but we haven't been able to document them living for much longer than we've been studying them for about 20, 30 years. At least there's Speaker 1: 02:04 Some speculation that they may outlive some of the researchers trying to study them. Speaker 2: 02:09 I would not be surprised at all. Speaker 1: 02:11 So where are these turtles usually found? I know you just said there were some in San Diego bay, but where do they usually make their home? Speaker 2: 02:18 So traditionally these specific greens have nesting beaches that are off mainland Mexico and the coast of Southern Baja, California, or islands just off of Baja, California. And what they do is they basically start nesting and then make their way up the coast of Baja, California in Mexico, and settle down in areas over there for foraging or off the coast of Southern California and places like San Diego bay, LA Jolla now, and even as far north as, um, long beach Speaker 1: 02:47 Now the LA Jolla turtles seem to have adapted to humans in a way that the San Diego bay turtles haven't. Can you tell us about that? Speaker 2: 02:55 Yeah. I think LA Jolla presents a very different and unique opportunity and it's in that it's an area where, uh, there's a lot of tourism and the water's a little bit more clear, so people can snorkel and actually see the reef and the wildlife there. Whereas in San Diego bay, the water isn't as clear and there's not exactly a lot of tourism. So I think that the turtles in the choir have had the opportunity to be around recreational divers, snorkelers, kayakers, and I've had an opportunity to kind of acclimate to that a little bit. Speaker 1: 03:27 Now swimming with these turtles is described as really an incredible experience. They sort of float and glide beside you. Have you been in the water with them? Yes, Speaker 2: 03:38 Of course the photographers that actually helped out with the citizen science project helped show me around and take photographs with them. And we do always make sure that we do our best to keep our distance and not alter their behavior in any way, but it truly is extraordinary experience. Why is it so extraordinary? I think because they have somewhat of a calm nature. So just watching them move about with the current in the surf grass. Some people call them little surfers when they see them over there and just watching them forage. So peacefully is really awesome. Speaker 1: 04:11 The water at LA Jolla shores and even in San Diego bay is cooler than, as you were saying, the traditional nesting grounds for these animals. How does the cooler water affect the turtles Speaker 2: 04:23 Cooler water causes turtles to go into a state of what we would call brumation in which they somewhat slow down their metabolism and try to hunker down sometimes under like rock shelf or in the, um, substrate that they are president. And this is just a way for them to lower their metabolism, save up their calories and kind of conserve the energy that they have and stay a little bit warmer. Speaker 1: 04:50 This migration northward, tell us about these turtles and about conservation efforts. Speaker 2: 04:56 We definitely think that the migration northwards we think is caused by years of successful conservation efforts, um, in Southern Mexico, which includes, um, reduce poaching and illegal hunting and protection of nesting beaches. We think this has caused the east Pacific population and we know it has caused them to grow in numbers. And we think that their population is now expanding out of regions, that we traditionally saw them in, into regions further north, as their numbers increase. And it Speaker 1: 05:27 Is important for people to know that the east Pacific green sea turtle is a protected species. So if you do see one swimming with you, what should you avoid doing? Speaker 2: 05:38 Essentially you should definitely avoid altering its behavior in any kind. Um, so try to keep a distance, definitely do not touch or chase the turtle, but it is a very cool and spirit experience. So try to relax and just watch from a distance and enjoy. Can you ever Speaker 1: 05:52 See these turtles just hanging out on the beach? Speaker 2: 05:55 They do not nest beaches here, so they are just foraging. So the best way to see them is, um, over the reef shelf where there's a lot of red algae. Okay, Speaker 1: 06:06 Then, so from what I understand, there are only four in the group. Now, do you expect the numbers of these turtles in LA Jolla to increase? I Speaker 2: 06:14 Do. We actually had a recent sighting about a month or two ago, and I'm hoping that this turtle is not just transient and that it decides to, uh, make LA Jolla at home as well. But with conditions being a little bit poorly lately for diving and snorkeling, we aren't quite sure if the turtle has stuck around, but the last recruit was in 2019. So hopefully they will be increasing in numbers over the years. Okay. Speaker 1: 06:40 I've been speaking with biologists, Megan Hannah and environmental analyst for the Navy who's research into the LA Jolla turtles was just published in the journal frontiers in Marine science. And Megan, thank you so much. Of course. Thank you so much for your time.