One of the biggest threats to critically endangered leatherback turtles is bycatch from industrial fishing in the open oceans. Now, a team of researchers has satellite-tracked 135 leatherbacks with transmitters to determine the turtles’ patterns of movement in the Pacific Ocean. Combined with fisheries data, the researchers entered the information into a computer model to predict bycatch hotspots in the Pacific. 
With this information, researchers and authorities hope to work with fisheries managers to avoid fishing when and where there is higher risk of also catching turtles in the area. Though the ocean is vast and the turtles’ movements are dynamic and unpredictable, the small chance of an individual leatherback getting hooked or caught in fishing lines is multiplied by 760 million in the Pacific Ocean alone, said Stephen Morreale, referring to the number of longline hooks set annually in the Pacific. Morreale is a Cornell senior research associate and adjunct associate professor in the Department of Natural Resources and a co-author of the study published online Jan. 7 in the Proceedings of Royal Society B. Read more here!… More:
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