To save a turtle, study a turtle

Video: Research Communications and Public Relations

Each year, thousands of ridley sea turtles crawl upon beaches along the US Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico to lay their eggs. Until recently, scientists knew very little about this synchronized mass nesting. Researchers at Texas A&M University, led by marine biologist Pamela T. Plotkin, are studying the nesting behavior of an abundant turtle – the olive ridley – to help save its sister species, the Kemp’s ridley, from extinction.