George Shillinger, Monterey Bay, CA. Something that most folks don’t realize is how difficult it is to track turtles, notes TOPP researcher Scott Eckert. Eckert is director of science for the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST) located at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment Marine Laboratory, in Beaufort, N.C. (To read this series of blog posts in Spanish, go here.)

To obtain 400 locations means that a satellite has to receive about 50,000 transmissions from the turtle. Those transmissions take place only when the turtle surfaces. It takes three to five transmissions to provide even a poor quality location, notes Eckert…and those transmissions must be at least 40 seconds apart. So, that means the turtle needs to stay on the surface for about three minutes. That doesn’t always happen.

Actually, given all the things that could go wrong, we’re feeling pretty lucky that we’re still hearing from seven of the eleven Great Turtle Race leatherbacks.

Contrary to what a lot of people think, it’s the nature of scientific research to have lots of unsolved mysteries. Where these turtles are and what happened to them is one of those mysteries.

What isn’t a mystery is that Pacific leatherbacks are disappearing at such a rapid rate that if we don’t do something, they’ll vanish from the Pacific Ocean. Here are some things that you can do to help them recover:

-- Keep plastics out of lakes, rivers, and oceans. Tens of thousands of people joined in Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup on Saturday. Here's a link to other upcoming cleanup days.
-- Switch to reusable cloth bags. Here's where you can order individual cloth bags, and here's where you can order bulk and customizable bags. Support bans on plastic bags. See how San Francisco did it.
-- Eat seafoods that don’t hurt sea turtles and other marine animals. Print out a copy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium pocket guide and tuck it in your purse or wallet for reference.
-- Volunteer with EarthWatch to help patrol Playa Grande’s beaches, like this one, below, during leatherback nesting months.

-- Keep informed about leatherbacks and other sea turtles. Follow the leatherbacks on TOPP.org, and check out other turtle species at Conservation International's State of the World's Sea Turtles.
-- Join other people like you who care about sea turtles and are getting involved in campaigns to change policies to protect sea turtles and their pals. 
Check out these Web sites for more information:
» SWOT -- State of the World’s Sea Turtles
» Seaturtle.org
» Oceana.org's Stop Dirty Fishing Campaign

Okay. So we’ve stopped hearing from Stephanie, Windy, Champira and Drexelina. Are they dead? It’s a sad thought, but possible. Do we want to figure out why? Of course. Is there a chance we’ll hear from them again? Of the three, it’s most likely that we have the best chance of hearing from Stephanie again.

Will we keep watching for them? You bet! So can you. The turtles’ positions are updated nightly on their animated map, and their widgets update nightly with the last reporter on how far they’ve traveled and how fast they’re going. (That information from Stephanie, Windy, Champira and Drexelina hasn’t changed since their last reports.) TOMORROW: THE STORIES THAT TAGS TELL