Last season brought us several exciting turtles. We observed our first Canadian-tagged turtle nesting on our beach! The turtle, named "Christie" by the Canadian research group that tagged her, was originally tagged during an in-water capture off Nova Scotia on September 19th, 2007. Satellite tracking data have shown that our turtles typically head to North Atlantic waters after leaving the nesting beach for the summer. Dr. Mike James and his team then take over to learn more about leatherback behavior after nesting season. To learn more about their research project, visit www.seaturtle.ca.
We also tagged two new turtles that were observed nesting on other beaches in southern Florida and Georgia. "Alli", who was our third observed turtle last season (and our first new turtle of the year), was observed by a morning survey group in Boca Raton. "Imani" was tagged on Juno Beach in April and observed nesting on St. Simon's Island, Georgia in June. Each turtle really has it's own distinct behavior. Unlike Alli and Imani, "Eleanor," who was first tagged on Juno Beach in March last season, was observed nesting seven times last year - ALWAYS on Juno Beach.
Keep checking back. The season is fast approaching!
