Do sea turtles orient toward green Snaplight light sticks in darkness?
Two groups of turtles were tested in an indoor, lightproof room. Turtles in the experimental treatment were placed in the orientation arena with an activated green Snaplight light stick in either the east or west side of the tank. Turtles in the control treatment were placed into the tank under identical conditions, except that an unactivated light stick was used. Results are shown in Figures 4 and 5. Results from the Hotelling test indicate that the turtles in the control treatment were not significantly oriented as a group. In the experimental treatment, the turtles were significantly (p<0.005) oriented with a mean angle of 356.3°. The control and experimental treatments were significantly different (F-test, p<0.02). These results indicate that turtles oriented toward green Snaplight light sticks only when they were activated.
