Factors to consider in the tagging of sea turtles / George H. Balazs

Abstract

Sea turtles are tagged to achieve the recognition of individuals or cohorts for research purposes. Tagging is most often conducted to obtain information on reproductive biology, movements, strandings, residency and growth rates. This chapter will cover the use of external and internal tags, exclusive of remote sensing techniques (sonic and radio transmitters; see S. Eckert, this volume), naturally occurring genetic markers (see FitzSimmons et al., this volume), data logging devices that require the electronic down-loading of stored information (see S. Eckert, this volume), and the injection of tetracycline or other substances to mark skeletal components.