GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - Tires found floating in the Mississippi Sound is a bad thing, but for the next few months there is a good reason for them.
The Sun Herald reports the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies is releasing some "effigy turtles" in the Gulf of Mexico and Mississippi Sound to see where they drift.
These turtles have a unique look; a lawn mower tire for a body, a Nerf football head, a plastic plate shell and pieces of foam rubber mat for flippers. The tire turtles have GPS tracking devices inside them and contact info on the outside with instructions on what to do if you see one.
Researchers are trying to determine if dead turtles that have showed up on Mississippi shores in recent years actually died in Mississippi waters.
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