Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2010

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Abstract

Recent studies show that sea turtles use both magnetic and visual cues to successfully orient. Juvenile green sea turtles from the near shore reefs of Palm Beach County, Florida were brought to the lab to determine whether the sun could serve as a visual orientation cue. When tethered during the day in a large outdoor tank west of the ocean, the turtles oriented east to northeast. To determine whether the sun's position was used to maintain their heading, I altered the turtles' perception of time by entraining them to a light cycle advanced by 7 h relative to the natural cycle. When tested afterward in the same outdoor tank the turtles oriented northwest, the predicted direction after compensating for the sun's movement over 7 h across the sky. Orientation was unchanged when the turtles bore magnets that negated the use of magnetic cues. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the turtles used the sun for orientation.

Extent

x, 37 p. : ill.

Comments

by Cody Robert Mott.|Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010.|Includes bibliography.|Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.|by Cody Robert Mott.

Identifier

FADT2705073

Format

pdf

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