Early Thursday morning we encountered our first new turtle of the year. Unlike about 60% of the turtles we encounter each season, she had no tags from previous years. Since leatherback tagging has occurred in Florida since the 80s, many turtles have been tagged when nesting in previous years. We applied two new flipper tags and a PIT tag and as is tradition in our program, she needed a name. Naming the turtles helps give them a story and it helps us remember them throughout the years. In honor of her birthday, we named this turtle after our dear friend, Dean Bagley, who conducts similar leatherback work just north of us in the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge. It’s always fun to have a birthday turtle! She is now known as Bagley, and we hope to see her again as she returns throughout the nesting season. We’ve had beautiful conditions of the beach this week. It’s been so nice to be back out there.
