加拉巴哥海龜很「戀家」，出乎科學家意料

Scientists expected a group of sea turtles in the Galápagos Islands to set off on long ocean journeys. Instead, the turtles stayed exactly where they were. The researchers studied a rare form of green sea turtle with yellowish colouring. The Galápagos is the only place in the world where these yellow turtles share their feeding grounds with the islands' more common black turtles. Because the yellow turtles are not known to lay their eggs on Galápagos beaches, scientists suspected they travelled thousands of kilometres across the Pacific to nest. To find out, the team fitted nine adult turtles with satellite trackers, some of which sent back signals for more than a year. To their surprise, not one of the turtles left the Galápagos Marine Reserve. Most stayed in shallow water close to the coast, and five of them spent nearly all their time around a single island. The researchers admit the trackers may simply not have lasted long enough to record a long migration. Even so, the results have important lessons for conservation. Because each turtle used waters around several islands, the scientists say that protecting one feeding area is not enough. The whole network of coastal habitats across the islands needs to be looked after.