Can wild animals be traumatised by these kind of experiences? Depends of the animal. I don't know much about sea turtles, but I *think* they're aware enough of their surroundings to realise that something out of place is going on. It'll probably upset them while it happens, but I'm pretty sure that "traumatised" is not the right word. That's personification. Yes, anyone who's ever had a pet knows that animals have intelligence and that they can be afraid/nervous/etc - but will they remember, and will it affect their life later? We only know that about some (very few) of them. Most species have much simpler minds than humans and that means they'll be as good as ever in almost no time.
And I do know that animals who are tracked in this way or others go on to live perfectly normal lives in the wild. They *are* safe. They *are* unharmed. And this things are done to know them better and help them, not to get random trivia. There are ethics and regulations about how far you can interfere. Modern scientists always, always try to upset animals and their environment the least possible - that's why it took so long to take photos of giant squids, for example, because scientists *didn't want to upset* the ones they find. Most of scientists that work with animals do treat them with respect, because when you work with them you realise they're not objects or toys.
There are grey areas, yes. (Should we use rats to study disease? What's more unethical, trying medicines on animals or give them to humans without tests? There are no definitive answers.) But things like tracking... it's not "hey, let's go torture a turtle to see where it goes". It's an almost non-upsetting experience that might help save a whole species.
no subject
Depends of the animal. I don't know much about sea turtles, but I *think* they're aware enough of their surroundings to realise that something out of place is going on. It'll probably upset them while it happens, but I'm pretty sure that "traumatised" is not the right word. That's personification. Yes, anyone who's ever had a pet knows that animals have intelligence and that they can be afraid/nervous/etc - but will they remember, and will it affect their life later? We only know that about some (very few) of them. Most species have much simpler minds than humans and that means they'll be as good as ever in almost no time.
And I do know that animals who are tracked in this way or others go on to live perfectly normal lives in the wild. They *are* safe. They *are* unharmed. And this things are done to know them better and help them, not to get random trivia. There are ethics and regulations about how far you can interfere. Modern scientists always, always try to upset animals and their environment the least possible - that's why it took so long to take photos of giant squids, for example, because scientists *didn't want to upset* the ones they find. Most of scientists that work with animals do treat them with respect, because when you work with them you realise they're not objects or toys.
There are grey areas, yes. (Should we use rats to study disease? What's more unethical, trying medicines on animals or give them to humans without tests? There are no definitive answers.) But things like tracking... it's not "hey, let's go torture a turtle to see where it goes". It's an almost non-upsetting experience that might help save a whole species.