"Going with the flow" or not: evidence of positive rheotaxis in oceanic juvenile loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) in the South Pacific Ocean Using Satellite Tags and Ocean Circulation Data.

The movement of juvenile loggerhead turtles (n = 42) out-fitted with satellite tags and released in oceanic waters off New Caledonia was examined and compared with ocean circulation data. Merging of the daily turtle movement data with drifter buoy movements, OSCAR (Ocean Surface Current Analyses--Real time) circulation data, and three different vertical strata (0-5 m, 0-40 m, 0-100 m) of HYCOM (HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model) circulation data indicated the turtles were swimming against the prevailing current in a statistically significant pattern. This was not an artifact of prevailing directions of current and swimming, nor was it an artifact of frictional slippage.