DNA Study

Since 2010, N.E.S.T. has participated in a multi-state genetics research project to answer several basic sea turtle nesting questions. By collecting an egg from every nest, biologists can use DNA genetic fingerprinting (CSI for sea turtles) to identify individual sea turtle females, to gather information about sea turtle nesting behavior and habits, and to provide a census of the actual nesting population. In the area monitored by N.E.S.T., over 330 DNA samples have been analyzed with over 180 unique individual female “fingerprints”.

DNA data helps determine:

  • The species of the turtle – Loggerhead (our most common), Green, Kemp’s Ridley, Leatherback, or even a surprise Hawksbill

  • How many clutches of eggs (nests) each nesting female lays in a year

  • Whether the turtle is nesting on more than one beach

  • How close together or far apart each individual turtle lays her nests, both within the same summer and from year-to-year

  • The number of turtles nesting in more than one state

  • How often each turtle nests; every two years, three, more, less?

  • How precisely a daughter returns to her hatching beach to lay her own eggs