A marine rescue team released tagged green turtles from two points on the same coast. Table 1 shows the direction travelled by each turtle after release. Th...
Question 1 Report
A marine rescue team released tagged green turtles from two points on the same coast. Table 1 shows the direction travelled by each turtle after release. The turtles had been held briefly for treatment after becoming trapped in fishing net. The team released them in calm weather and checked that each animal could swim normally. Direction is measured clockwise from north.
| Turtle | Release point | Direction travelled after 1 hour / degrees |
|---|---|---|
| A | Bay | 82 |
| B | Bay | 76 |
| C | Bay | 85 |
| D | Harbour | 79 |
| E | Harbour | 81 |
| F | Harbour | 77 |
(a) Identify the general direction travelled by the turtles. [1]
(b) Describe the evidence that their movement is directional rather than random. [2]
(c) Suggest one cue the turtles could use to navigate. [1]
(d) Explain why the team checked that each turtle could swim normally before release. [2]
Answer Details
(a) East / approximately east [1] (b) All directions are close together, from 76 to 85 degrees [1]; rather than being spread over many different directions [1] (c) Any one from: magnetic field / Sun position / stars / coastline / smell [1] (d) An injured turtle may not show normal movement [1]; checking makes the observed direction more likely to be normal navigation rather than an effect of injury [1]
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