from Jennifer Schmitt

This morning’s featured #SciFund project is Turtles in the Deep.

Today dolphin safe tuna… tomorrow turtle safe seafood!  At least, that is the hope for this project’s creator, Lindsey Peavey who is engaged in a clear mix of cool basic science – turtle ecology in the open ocean – and an important real world application – fishing smarter to decrease bycatch.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYa7ABY1ZMQ&w=420&h=315]

To date most turtle research has been on beaches, focused on hatchlings and females.  However turtles spend the majority of their life in the open ocean and scientists do not fully understand where these turtles are going and why.  Turtles in the deep will change that by tracking these turtles and learning about their search for food.  These results will help in our search for seafood by informing the fishing industry where these turtles are so their boats and fish nets can avoid them.

I for one want this research to succeed so I can expand my seafood selection without worrying about how many turtles were harmed in the making of my meal.  And while Lindsey has reached her initial funding goal, there is always more science to be done.  The more money she receives, the more turtles she can track and more data she can collect.  The more turtles she tracks the better her results become and the closer we get to turtle safe seafood.

Check it out, spread the word, and contribute today!