Kinematics of swimming and thrust production during powerstroking bouts of the swim frenzy in green turtle hatchlings.

ABSTRACT: Hatchling sea turtles emerge from nests, crawl down the beach and enter the sea where they typically enter a stereotypical hyperactive swimming frenzy. During this swim the front flippers are moved up and down in a flapping motion and are the primary source of thrust production. I used high-speed video linked with simultaneous measurement of thrust production in tethered hatchlings, along with high-speed video of free swimming hatchlings swimming at different water speeds in a swim flume to investigate the links between kinematics of front flipper movement, thrust production and swimming speed. In particular I tested the hypotheses that (1) increased swimming speed is achieved through an increased stroke rate; (2) force produced per stroke is proportional to stroke amplitude, (3) that forw

SUBMITTER: Booth DT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4197437 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature