Manicured turtles swim for science

Scientists tracking the dispersal of hatchling loggerhead turtles have resorted to the nail salon to help fit tiny tags to the endangered creatures.

The Florida team tried several ideas to attach the technology to the animals, which measure less than 20cm in length.

This included making little harnesses, and using tough epoxy adhesives.

But it was only when the turtle shells were prepared like a manicurist primes fingernails that the satellite tags would stay on for a useful period.

Kate Mansfield, a US National Marine Fisheries service scientist in Miami, told our correspondent Jonathan Amos why it is important to track Atlantic loggerheads.