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Secret voyages of leatherback turtles revealed using transmitters
Level 3 •
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Keywords
Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text.
1. If you _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ an animal, you follow it by looking for evidence of where it has gone 2. If numbers
, they suddenly become much lower.
3. A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ is an electronic device used to send radio signals. 4.
is the process by which animals travel to another part of the world at a particular time of year.
5. A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ animal is one that has grown to its full size. 6.
is the situation where a species of animal or plant no longer exists.
7.
is food used for attracting and catching fish.
8. If you
a policy or a strategy. you make it start to work.
9. If you
something, you protect It from being harmed or having problems
10.
f)
is the process by which animals search for food over a wide area.
What do you know?
Decide whether these statements are true (T) or false (F). Then check your answers in the text.
1. Leatherback turtles can live for around fifty years. 2. Some turtles swim from Africa to South America. 3. Most turtles live in the Pacific Ocean. 4. Turtles can drown. 5. Gabon is a country in East Africa. 6. The distance from Africa to South America is more than 15.000 kilometres.
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Secret voyages of leatherback turtles revealed using transmitters
---------------------'.---------- Level3. Secret voyages of leatherback turtles revealed using transmitters Researchers have tracked 'nature's ancient mariners' as they spend several months travelling from Africa to South America
Alok Jha, science correspondent 5 January, 2011 On 2 February 2009, at 4am, a turtle known as Tika set off from the coast of Gabon, West Africa. She spent almost six months swimming across the Atlantic, a 5,000-mile (8,000 kilometre) journey to the coast of South America. In January 2011, she probably reached the sea off Brazil, where she could eat jellyfish and build herself up. In about March 2012, she'll begin her journey back to Africa, and, if all goes well, she'll then build a nest and lay her eggs in the sands of the Mayumba National Park in Gabon. And this will be just one of many 10,OOO-mile round trips she makes in her 50-year life. 2 Scientists know all of this because, for the first time, they have tracked the journeys taken by leatherback turtles as they cross the Atlantic Ocean, with Tika travelling the furthest of the 25 females that were followed in a study lasting more than five years. She, along with another female called Regab, ended up in the waters off Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Others stayed closer to Africa, but still their journeys lasted for months and they swam thousands of miles. One turtle swam around the middle of the Atlantic for more than a year and a half, clocking up more than 7,000 miles. before returning to breed. 3 The maps of the turtles' journeys will be an important means by which to document and conserve these rare creatures in the Atlantic Ocean, according to the scientists involved. In the Pacific, leatherback turtle numbers have plummeted in the past few decades. as they are caught and drowned in fishing nets. Researchers were able to follow the journey leatherback turtles make from Africa to the South American coast using transmitters. 4 Researcher Matthew Witt led the project. "Despite extensive research carried out on
leatherbacks, no one has really been sure about the journeys they take in the south Atlantic until now," he said. "What we've shown is that there are three clear migration routes as they head back to feeding grounds after breeding in Gabon. although the numbers adopting each strategy varied each year. We don't know what influences that choice yet, but we do know these are truly remarkable journeys with one female tracked for thousands of miles travelling in a straight line right across the Atlantic." 5 Each turtle was fitted with a simple transmitter on her back. powered by four lithium camera batteries. This sent signals to a satellite receiver every time the creature came up for air on its travels across the open ocean. The data showed that Regab took 150 days to swim 4,215 miles. arriving in the waters off BraziL The deepest dive was 1.080 metres. by a turtle called Darwinia, who was also headed to South America 6 As well as South America, Witt's team identified two other migration routes. One saw turtles swim to the coast of South Africa, while the other led them around the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. "Although sometimes they're in the middle of nowhere, hundreds of kilometres from any coastal features, they have plonked themselves in the middle of a food hotspot," said Witt. In each case, the turtles swim thousands of miles to stay within food-rich areas of the oceans. Typically, a mature individual could stay swimming around the migration routes for up to five years, building up food reserves, before retuming to their birthplace in Gabon to reproduce. 7 The data from the research project will be used to try to prevent the potential decline of leatherback turtles. "If you look at the Pacific Ocean, the population there has undergone a huge decline - greater than 98% [have gone] in 30 to 40 years," said Witt. "The population is bordering on extinction; there are only hundreds of females left, rather than many tens of thousands." 8 The exact cause of the dramatic fall in Pacific numbers is not clear, but turtles can get caLlght on the hooks used to catch tuna, or under large nets. In both cases, the turtles are held under
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Secret voyages of leatherback turtles revealed using transmitters
Level 3 • the water and drown. "It's all accidental bycatch but it still has really significant impact on the population," said Witt. Banning fishing in the areas where turtles live IS not always necessary, said Witt 'There are a whole range of strategies people have been developing over the last five to ten years, such as changing the shape of hooks and changing the bait types. It still maintains fisheries' catch rates, but it reduces sea turtle bycatch."
time on the high seas, where it's very difficult to implement and manage conservation efforts. but hopefully this research will help inform future efforts to safeguard these fantastic creatures." 10
9 Brendan Godley, a co-author of the work, said all of the routes identified by researchers take the leatherbacks through areas at high risk from fisheries, so there was a real danger to the Atlantic population. "Knowing the routes has also helped us identify at least 11 nations that should be involved in conservation efforts, as well as those with long-distance fishing fleets. There's a concern that the turtles we tracked spent a long
o
Howard Rosenbaum, of the Wildlife Conservation Society, agreed. "This important work shows that protecting leatherback turtles requires research and conservation on important nesting beaches, foraging areas and important areas of the high seas. Armed with a better understanding of migration patterns and preferences for particular areas of the ocean, the conservation community can now work towards protecting leatherbacks at sea. which has been previously difficult." Š Guardian News & Media 2011 First published in The Guardian. 05/01111
Comprehension check
Choose the best answer according to the text.
1.
2.
Why have numbers of leatherback turtles in the Pacific Ocean fallen so dramatically in recent years? a. because they have migrated to the Atlantic Ocean b
because they have returned to Gabon to breed
c.
because they have drowned after being caught in fishing nets
Why do turtles migrate? a. to find warmer water b. to find food before they return to their breeding grounds c.
3.
to swim around the middle of the Atlantic Ocean
How did the scientists find out about the long journeys made by the turtles? a. they found African turtles in BraZil b. they fitted simple transmitters to the turtles' backs c.
4.
they monitored fishing in the Atlantic Ocean
Why was it previously difficult to protect leatherback turtles at sea? a. because not enough was known about their migration patterns b. because their foraging areas were in the middle of fishing grounds c.
because governments were not interested in conservation
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Secret voyages of leatherback turtles revealed using transmitters
Level 3 •
o
Find the word
Find the following words and expressions in the text. 1.
a three-word reflexive phrasal verb meaning to make yourself healthier and stronger (para 1)
2.
a two-word phrasal verb meaning to be in a particular place after doing something or because of dOing it (para 2)
3.
a two-word phrasal verb meaning to reach a particular number or amount (para 2)
4.
a five-word expression meaning a long way from any town or city (para 6)
5.
a two-word reflexive verb meaning to place yourself (para 6)
6.
a two-word phrasal verb meaning to be very near to a particular quality, feeling. state, etc. (para 7)
7.
a noun meaning fish caught unintentionally (para 8)
8.
a two-word expression meaning having useful information (para 10)
e
Noun + noun collocations
Match the words in the left-hand column with those in the right-hand column to make expressions from the text. 1.
conservation
a.
grounds
2.
migration
b.
project
3.
food
c.
receiver
4.
feeding
d.
route
5.
satellite
e.
effort
6.
research
f.
reserves
o
Word-building
Complete the sentences with the correct form of the word in brackets at the end of each sentence. 1.
Leatherback turtles have been the subject of ___________ research. [EXTEND]
2.
These turtles make
3.
The number of turtles in the Pacific has fallen
4.
remarkable journeys. [TRUE]
this research will help to safeguard leatherback turtles. [HOPE]
5.
The turtles are sometimes hundreds of kilometres from
6.
The turtle population is close to _ _ _~_ _ _ _ _ _. [EXTINCT]
o
. [DRAMA]
features. [COAST]
Discussion
Should governments spend a lot of money to protect endangered species? Why? Why not?
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