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Bycatch Loggerhead Satellite Tagged

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visit the Usa web site 4/27/2025 Below is a video clip of turtles 581 and 583 showing their travels since they have arrived in shallow waters.  Their track is overlayed on sea surface temperature to show that they are in waters that are 15-16 degrees C (583) and 17 degrees C (581).  The water depth is around 50-100 meters for turtle 583 and 50-200 m for turtle 581. It is also interesting to note that their rate of travel has lowered to 0.4 km/hr for turtle 583 and 1.1 km/hr for turtle 581.  My guess is that they have found a plentiful forage ground and I also suggest that they both are back in an area they have visited in years past.. Just a guess on my part.  As the water warms, they may move up into the embayments that are now still too cold for them. Dr. Tomomi Saito, Director of Usa Marine Biological Institute, commented:  " The Seto Inland Sea is still too cold to enter, but the water temperature in the southern points of the Kii Peninsula or Shikoku Island...
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Tranzition Zone Chlorophyll Front

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  The North Pacific Transition Zone Chlorophyll Front (TZCF) is   a dynamic, basin-wide feature characterized by rapidly changing chlorophyll concentrations, temperature, and nutrients , marking a boundary between subtropical and subarctic phytoplankton communities, and influencing marine ecosystems and fisheries.   Here's a more detailed explanation: What it is: The TZCF is a zone of surface convergence where cool, vertically mixed, high chlorophyll water on the north side sinks beneath warm, stratified, low chlorophyll water on the south side.   Location and Movement: It spans the east-west extent of the North Pacific and moves seasonally northward and southward within the North Pacific Transition Zone between 30°N and 45°N.   Seasonal Dynamics: In the fall and winter, the TZCF moves southward, potentially due to strong winds moving nutrients across the boundary between gyres.   In the spring, winds lessen and nutrient transport southward is reduced, caus...
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Post Nesting Loggerhead Turtle Tagged and Released

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  AUGUST 8, 2024 POST NESTING LOGGERHEAD SATELLITE TAGGED  KOCHI BEACH, JAPAN The post-nesting loggerhead is now meandering around an area that appears to be very favorable for her. Loggerhead turtle 571 has begun to remain in the same vacinity which indicates that she has found an area that provides a bountiful foraging area. 571 has moved a little off shore and may be moving out into the Kuroshio current.  Stay turned to see where she goes! Above is an image of loggerhead #571 nesting on Kochi Beach taken by Noah Yamaguchi with a drone mounted IR camera at 0200 hours on August 6,2024.  A team from Usa Marine Biological Institute was able to capture her after she finished laying eggs. 571's eggs (110 in number) were retrieved and placed in the protected hatchery on Kochi Beach.  If these eggs hatch successfully, they will constitute the fourth cohort of STRETCH turtles scheduled for release in 2026!   Post nesting loggerhead turtle #571's locations an...
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DAILY UPDATES ON COHORT II LOGGERHEAD TURTLES

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Noah and Catherine are the STRETCH representatives taking care of the 28 juvenile loggerhead turtles in cohort II of the STRETCH experiment.  They will be providing daily updates on the status of the turtles as they make their way across the Pacific to the area where they will be released into the central northeast Pacific Ocean.   The location of release will be as close as possible to where cohort I was released (~39 N and 146 W) , Noah and Catherine in their STRETCH T shirts during "loading day" when they loaded the 28 satellite tagged juvenile loggerheads on-board the Firmament Ace at the Port of Nagoya. Graphic of ships location and sea surface temperature. The latest update will be at the top of this post 7/8/2024 Twenty Eight Loggerheads were safely released from the Firmament Ace between 1410 and 1445 h (UTC-11) at  39°33.4669' N 148°29.7291' W.  The sea surface temperature was  18℃. See Pictures below of Catherine, Noah and the turtles.   As of now...
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