The extraordinary reason why scientists are collecting sea turtle tears

A green sea turtle. | Ron Masessa/Getty Images

Each year, in late spring and early summer, female sea turtles will crawl out of the ocean under moonlight to lay their eggs in the sand, often returning to the same beach on which they were born many years earlier.

Sometimes when the turtles emerge to nest, researchers like Julianna Martin are watching patiently from the shadows.

For her doctoral research, Martin, a PhD student at the University of Central Florida, has been analyzing sea turtle tears.