SPEND MOST OF THEIR LIVES AT SEA. BUT LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT THE YEARS BETWEEN WHEN

THEY HATCH AND REACH FULL MATURITY.

A NEW STUDY MAY HELP UNLOCK THIS MYSTERY. I SAT DOWN WITH VOA'S ROSEANNE SKIRBLE TO

TALK ABOUT THE LATEST RESEARCH, AND HOW IT MAY HELP SCIENTISTS BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT

SEA TURTLES NEED

TO SURVIVE.

THEY DID A LOT OF TESTING AND IT HAD TO BE JUST RIGHT. AND SO WHAT THEY DID IS THEY GLUED

ON THESE TAGS, AND HOW DID THEY DO THAT? THEY EXPERIMENTED AND FINALLY THEY

FIGURED OUT-- THE SHALLOW THE TURTLE IS THE SAME AS WHAT YOUR NAILS ARE MADE OF - SO THE

GLUE ARE THE ACRYLIC FOR WHAT YOU USE TO PUT YOUR FAKE NAILS ON IS THE SAME THING

THEY USE TO KEEP THESE LITTLE TAGS ON.

THAT IS TOO FUNNY. VERY INTERESTING. NOW WHAT DID WE FIND OUT FROM THE STUDY ABOUT THE TURTLES

AND THEIR LIFECYCLE?

WELL ONCE THEY GOT INTO THE OCEAN, THEY FOLLOW THEM BETWEEN 20 AND 220 DAYS - 27 TO 220 DAYS

TO BE EXACT. AND WITH A SAW IS THEY BASICALLY WENT IN A CIRCULAR YOU KNOW ROUND

AND ROUND AND ROUND THE ATLANTIC FROM THE TIP OF FLORIDA TO THE EASTERN UNITED STATES.

SOME 4300 KM THAT THESE LITTLE GUYS WENT. THEY FOUND OUT THAT THEY DIDN'T KIND OF

STAY WITHIN THESE BASIC CURRENTS. THEY WENT INSIDE THE CURRENTS TO WHAT THEY CALL THE

SARGASSO SEA.

THE SARGASSO SEA TURNS OUT TO BE A POPULAR REFUGE WHERE YOUNG TURTLES CAN FORAGE AND

FIND SHELTER IN THE MATS OF SEAWEED. MANSFIELD SAYS IDENTIFYING CRITICAL HABITATS LIKE

THE SARGASSO SEA IS AN IMPORTANT STEP FOR WILDLIFE PROTECTION.

"PERHAPS THIS HABITAT, EVEN THOUGH IT IS VERY TRANSIENT AND IT MOVES AND DRIFTS WITH OCEAN

CURRENTS, IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO CONSIDER AS PROTECTION FOR THE

ANIMALS."

AND YOU TALK ABOUT THIS IDEA OF PROTECTION AND WE KNOW THESE TURTLES ARE ENDANGERED SO

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THREATS THAT THEY FACE?

WELL THE LARGEST THREAT IS THE THREAT OF THE LOSS OF HABITAT. BOTH ON LAND AND APPARENTLY

ON SEA. THE SARGASSO SEA IS A NEW... THE SCIENTIST DIDN'T QUITE KNOW THEY WERE GOING

- OR THEY COULDN'T PROVE THAT THEY WERE GOING THERE. SO IF CONSERVATIONIST CAN THINK OF

THIS AS ANOTHER PLACE TO PROTECT THE TURTLES AND PERHAPS THE TURTLES CAN HAVE A

LONGER LIFESPAN.

OF COURSE AND WHAT IS THERE FULL LIFESPAN? YOU SAID 20 TO 30 YEARS IS WHEN THEY MATURE

BUT DO WE KNOW HOW LONG THEY CAN LIVE?

WELL I THINK THEY CAN OUTLIVE HUMANS FOR SURE NOW THAT THEY'VE GOT THIS TAG PROBLEM FIGURED

OUT, THEY WANT TO FIGURE OUT WELL HOW CAN THEY HAVE THIS TEXT TO GOING EVEN

LONGER. NOW REMEMBER THE TURTLE IS GROWING AND GROWING AND GROWING UNTIL IT GETS TO BE

ABOUT 1 1/2 M WHEN IT FINALLY GETS BACK TO....

WOW, IT'S A BIG DIFFERENCE FROM A LITTLE PALM OF YOUR HAND.

PALM OF YOUR HAND TO 1 1/2 M WHEN HE GETS BACK TO MATE AND LAY ITS EGGS. AND THEY ALWAYS

BASICALLY COME BACK TO THE SAME SPOT. THE VIDEO THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT IS VIDEO

FROM BRAZIL WITH THE SCIENTISTS ARE NOW WORKING.

RIGHT, BECAUSE THEY'RE MOVING ON.

THEIR MOVING ONTO OTHER OCEAN BASINS BECAUSE THE TURTLES ARE NOT JUST ENDANGERED ON THE

EAST COAST OF UNITED STATES. THIS IS A WORLDWIDE PROBLEM.

AND OUR THANKS TO ROSANNE SKIRBLE. WE WANT TO ADD THAT BECAUSE THESE TURTLES' TRACKING

DEVICES ARE SOLAR POWERED, THEY ARE ALSO SMALLER ... MEANING THE RESEARCHERS COULD

PUT THEM ON THEM ON THE BACKS OF MUCH YOUNGER, SMALLER TURTLES, WHICH ENABLED THIS STUDY

TO HAPPEN.

AMAZING.