Bethany Adomanis

Research Project: Do post-hatchling green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) remember how to solve a simple puzzle after a period of absence?

Bethany became a member of the Turtle Health Research team in early 2016 as a volunteer. She quickly sparked an interest in behavioural enrichment with the green sea turtle hatchlings in the Caraplace research facility.

Her project involves providing the year-old green sea turtles with a simple puzzle to solve for a food reward, and then gauging whether the hatchlings remember how to solve the puzzle after a period of absence. After turtles hatch and make their run for the ocean, they are not seen again for approximately 15 years; this time is known as the “lost years”. Working with the turtle hatchlings will hopefully provide an insight into their memory development and learning capabilities during this largely unstudied life stage.