A living fossil, sea turtles still nest up and down the busy and overbuilt South Florida coast and travel past our shores throughout the year. The various species of ocean roaming turtle are approximately 200-300 million years old but because they lay their eggs on our beaches, scientists are able to closely study the nomadic animals. For this reason, and with modern techniques such as satellite tagging, we can occasionally glimpse closely into their mysterious lives.

Loggerhead Shell (photo by Paul Stoppi)

One of the finer specimens in the Miami Science Museum collection is a gigantic loggerhead shell. It is from a specimen estimated to be around 150 years old when it died! The shell is marked with a label that the object came from United States Customs, confiscated from someone trying to trade illegally in sea turtle paraphernalia. This is part of the reason the Museum’s collection of sea turtles, around 25 specimens, is so impressive. Even though bycatch – the accidental killing by commercial fisherman – is the greatest threat sea turtles, for many years they were hunted for their shells as luxury items, or to adorn jewelry. In some places, like in Cuba, the flippers, eggs, and head of sea turtles are still eaten by people holding on to age-old traditions, even though hunting them was banned years ago.

Green turtle specimen (photo by Paul Stoppi)

The Miami Science Museum’s very own Fernando Bretos is an expert on green turtles and he follows their movements and mating throughout the Caribbean, but mostly focusing on nesting and migrations between Florida and Cuba. Fernando is a Cuban-American who is trying to pick up the dialogue between Cuba and the United States through sea turtles. It is one of the few links in which exchange is allowed and encouraged, “maybe the only link even,” states Bretos, “and we must share information and resources to protect the animals.” Sea turtles become not just amazing animals to study and appreciate but are also fascinating to consider as a bridge between two politically embattled nations.

Green turtle specimen, close-up (photo by Paul Stoppi)

Fernando is attracted to sea turtles, not only because they are beautiful and need help, but also because he sees a link to himself. They are migratory; he has lived in Cuba, the U.S.A, and Australia. And the green turtle traveling through the Gulf Stream is particular to both his homeland of Cuba and home country of America. But he feels it’s important to understand what our changing definition of nature is. Fisheries biologist Jeremy Jackson suggests at the time of Columbus the green sea turtle population was approximately 660 million turtles. The Tortugas were named such because of this drastic overabundance, and some tales speak of sailors walking from shell to shell on over crowded beached. Indeed sea turtle was one of the primary food resource in the Caribbean. That is in contrast with the estimated 88,000 nesting females in existence today, as reported by the Sea Turtle Conservancy.

In a bittersweet moment, it is almost because of this overabundance of sea turtles in combination with the regulations now put against their trade, that the impressive collection of sea turtle specimens at the Miami Science Museum could be compiled. Through conservation and conversation they can come back, but the dialogue must remain. The collection also shows us how important sea turtles are locally in Miami. In fact, Florida’s beaches are the most important nesting site for loggerhead turtles on the planet! Even though it is 25 specimens, because the scientific community is trying to conserve the animals, a collection like the one the Miami Science Museum is actually quite impressive. It would be impossible to compile today, making it truly unique.

Turtle tracking via satellite

The image above is a satellite track from SeaTurtle.org of five green turtles that were tagged off the coast of Guanahacabibes UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in August 2012 immediately after laying eggs. Since their tagging, these five female turtles have begun their annual voyage to foraging and mating grounds. Two of the animals, one named Conchita, after Fernando’s mother, made a fast dash immediately for Florida. Conchita, whose track is labeled in green, suddenly made an abrupt turn and swam to Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula where she is now feeding on shallow sea grass beds.

It is critical to study the migratory movements of these enigmatic creatures. Without knowing where they feed, nest or travel, it is impossible to draft policies to protect them, particularly across international maritime borders.)

The Curious Vault is a bi-weekly online cabinet of curiosities featuring objects from the collection of the Miami Science Museum, presented by writer Nathaniel Sandler and Kevin Arrow, Art & Collections Manager. For more information, email karrow@miamisci.org

Scientists gather all the time at conferences and meetings to share ideas, research, and discoveries. But how often do high school students get to actively participate in these meetings – especially ones with global consequences? This week, scientists and world leaders met at the Rio+20 Summit in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, to discuss environmental protection and sustainable development. And youth from around the world were there too, through a global videoconference that was the culmination of the SCEnaRioS (Science Centers Engagement and the Rio Summit) project. During the Summit, youth from TechnoMuses (Canada), Museo Interactivo de Economia (Mexico), Museu da Vida (Brazil), Madatech (Israel), and of course the Miami Science Museum, gave presentations to the world about their concerns for their respective environments.

Each presentation was the result of a team project between science centers around the world, so in addition to those science centers that presented live, lots of others were involved in this global collaboration – including Chabot Space and Science Center (California), SciPort (Louisiana), Experimentarium (Denmark), Museo Nazionale della Scienza (Italy), Kankhomba Secondary School (Mozambique), Questacon (Australia), Macau Science Center (Macau, China), and Science Centre Singapore, and of course the Miami Science Museum’s partner, Maloka Interactive Center (Colombia). The SCEnaRioS project is based on the convictions that youth will be an essential part of the solution to global problems, and that global partnerships and collaboration between youth is a big part of ensuring a better future for the Earth.

Partnerships? Check. Informed youth? Check. Solutions to environmental problems? In progress.

What kind of voice can young people have regarding global issues related to the sustainability of the planet? Very often, they are the ones who are the most enthusiastic about new technologies, and the most eager to use these tools to instigate actions that can make a difference. The SCEnaRioS (Science Centers Engagement and the Rio Summit) project partnership between the Miami Science Museum and Maloka Interactive Science Center in Colombia is bringing students together with these challenges in mind.

Students participating in youth programs in Miami and Bogotá contributed their thoughts and concerns about water resources in their respective locations, and created a video to be shown at the Planet Under Pressure conference in London at the end of March. Miami, with its low-lying coastlines and coral reefs, and Bogotá, with its high altitudes and alpine tundras, may seem very different. But water is universal to all of us.