Sea Turtles

Last August, Bond was tagged with a satellite transmitter and other tracking devices. Now that he's back in the waters around Dry Tortugas National Park, 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of Key West, Fla., he's updating scientists by the day on his whereabouts.

Marine biologists are following Bond and 27 other tagged sea turtles to learn how to protect these threatened and endangered species.

The sea turtles - green turtles, loggerheads and hawksbills - may spend the majority of their lives away from the federally-protected beaches of Dry Tortugas and away from the eyes of scientists. Tracking the turtles will reveal where they spend their days so that habitat managers can protect these areas.

"When they're on land we only get such a brief period with them, and then we don't get to see them for the rest of their lives," said research ecologist Kristen Hart of the U.S. Geological Survey. Hart said she and her colleagues are watching the sea turtles as if they were following their own children.