The incredible 4,500-mile Atlantic Ocean journey of tiny turtles

The incredible 4,500-mile Atlantic Ocean journey of tiny turtles

Scientists have lifted the lid on an incredible 70-day journey that wild turtles, some younger than six months old, take for the first time.

Researchers tagged some of the smallest and youngest ever baby turtles to be tracked, revealing the epic 4,500 mile journey in the Atlantic Ocean.

The young Loggerhead turtles were monitored by satellite as they made their journey - the equivalent of travelling from London to Mumbai.

Scientists customised the 9gm tracker tags normally used for birds, making them waterproof, before gluing them onto the reptiles' shells.

Jeanette Wyneken and Kate Mansfield, from Florida Atlantic University, said they were amazed at the length of the journey made by the 17 tiny turtles.

'This is the first time turtles aged four months have ever been tagged and tracked by satellite,' said Dr Wyneken.

'Previously we have never known what these young turtles do once they leave their beach nests and swim off into the ocean.

'It was important to us that the tags did not stop them from behaving normally. Thankfully they acted as as if there was nothing attached to there backs at all.

'Seaweed is an important habitat for the turtles and they had no problem moving around it.'

Using data transmitted by the tags, the team was able to map every movement.

Dr Wyneken said: 'The turtles varied a lot in their movements, more so than we expected. They're likely doing much more than just paddling straight to the deep water and riding the current.

'We're very happy and excited by the results.'

The 17 satellite tags cost £32,000 and allowed the animals to be monitored from anywhere on the planet.
The little loggerhead turtles were captured from their Florida beach nests especially to take part the tagging project.

The hand-sized reptiles were between four and six months old when they were released 10-miles east of Palm Beach and weighed only 300 grams.

When they are between six and eight months of age they outgrow the tags which fall off into the sea.

'We're trying to protect them from harm,' said Jeanette.

'The question is one of basic natural history: where are they going? For how long and what are the risks in between?

'If you don't know where they are or what places they're visiting you don't know what areas you need to protect.

'And if you don't have this information you're gambling with the method you're using to protect them and enhance their survival.'

Funding for the project came from the University of New Hampshire's Large Pelagics Research Center, Save Our Seas Foundation, Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, and the Florida Sea Turtle Licence Plate Grants Program.

The full results of the tracking are expected to be published later this year.






Source: Dailymail

The Most Horrible Religion in the World

 

It was long thought that the most terrible "acting" religion in the world is voodoo, but as it turned out, there's something terrible, and - this is an ancient religion of Palo, which in recent years is literally reborn in Congo, and Venezuela. Palo religion or otherwise "Rules of the Congo" by and large the synthesis of several denominations who preach the worship of the dead and a black magic practitioners, compared with a voodoo just childish pranks. However, it takes its origin not in Palo Congo and Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Preached the same religion, this African slaves came from Bantu (Central Africa). Now this is where Palo preserved in its original form and is interesting, modern "Palero" (so called followers of Palo), have white skin.
At the heart of Palo religion is based on two ideas: the worship of ancestral spirits and the belief in the power of nature. It would seem perfectly harmless concept, but once you stop to think so, as soon as you see the altar Palo called "Nganga" graveyard filled with earth, sticks (the word "fell" in Spanish means a stick) and ... bones recently deceased people.

 Palo priests are divided into "good" and "evil." Mean priests "are afraid of not only themselves but Palero and adherents of other religions, including voodoo. If these all-powerful black magicians will take someone to hurt, you should not even doubt - Affliction will be fatal and there is no even the most powerful psychic can not do anything, well, if only that he follows the doomed.
"Good priests" guess and predict, looking in the mirror, attached to the horn of a bull or a goat. But very popular for divination uses gunpowder - it is divided into seven piles and lit in a certain sequence. If ignition of gunpowder is in the same order as the ignition is considered - the spirits gave a positive answer to your question. Another method of divination "good priests": take a completely white plate. This dish "good priest" touching different parts of the human body (as a plate passes information about the client), then hold the plate over a candle flame and then study the patterns of smoke (like guesswork).

 After conducting a special ritual with just separated from the flesh of human bones. The spectacle, I must say, not for the faint of heart, "newbies" and the casual viewer (though hardly anyone gets there by chance, at least, not for priests) come to the indescribable horror, say some because of it and did not recover .
The main supplier of "ritual bones Palo became the cemetery Cementerio del sur in Karakose. The cemetery all the time prowling scary types sometimes armed not only with shovels. Fresh graves are constantly torn, and the coffin opened. Sometimes, the bodies disappear completely, sometimes only the head or body, and it happens that the bones are separated from the flesh on the spot, but the flesh is naturally left, and the bones carried away. Especially popular among the "Palero" are the corpses of young people, particularly girls.
Things reached the point that the cemetery are afraid to come, not only relatives of the deceased, but also security, designed to observe the procedure in the graveyard, does not depart from the gate more than a hundred meters. All this is very unfortunate, because at Cementerio del sur buried not only ordinary citizens but also many famous people. Prior to frequent here vandals, tourists can admire the beautiful sculptures and beautiful crosses the family vault. Cemetery is included in all tourist guides, and pomp and finery Cementerio del sur compared with the famous Parisian cemetery Pere Lachaise.