Sea turtles carrying thermometers could improve hurricane forecasts

By Liz Kalaugher

Loggerhead sea turtles have been used to track water temperatures around hurricanes

Michael Patrick O’Neill / Alamy

Sea turtles tagged with location and temperature sensors have been used to gather data on water temperatures near hurricanes, which could help us better forecast how strong such storms will be.

Hurricanes are difficult to model in the Mid-Atlantic Bight, a coastal region that runs along the eastern US from around New York to North Carolina, because the waters there are highly stratified in summer, with warm water at the surface and cold water far below.

“The hurricane forces ahead of the eye …