After laying several nests earlier in the season, a team of biologists has encountered and tagged a rare leatherback sea turtle that is nesting along Sanibel and Captiva Islands. She can now be tracked in real time as she travels the southwest Florida coast. On April 1, 2020, biologists with the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) Read more about Say hello to Juniper![…]
Isla, the endangered leatherback sea turtle returns to Jupiter Island, Florida! Jupiter Island, Florida USA, April 24, 2020 – After almost two years and traveling more than 16,000 kilometers (10,000 miles) Isla, an endangered leatherback sea turtle with a transmitter was once again encountered by researchers on her nesting beach at Jupiter Island, Florida. “We Read more about Isla has returned![…]
We’re fast approaching the peak of leatherback nesting and wanted to give you a quick update. We have encountered leatherbacks a total of 182 times. We often see the same individuals multiple times since leatherbacks return every 8-11 days and can nest up to 10-11 times each season! We have seen a total of 86 Read more about Mid-Season Update[…]
11 days after we attached her transmitter, Kailani returned to nest again. For those that have been following along, we attached Kailani’s transmitter in March. The goal of this project is to help us better determine how many times an individual turtle nests within a single season. Last season we documented 11 nests from a Read more about Kailani Returns![…]
It’s been a bit of a slow start for us. We had multiple ATV issues pop up within just two days and out survey team got cut short until we could get them repaired. Our team covers approximately 25 miles of beach each night with just a three-volunteer team so our ATVs are crucial to Read more about Three Week Update[…]
Our surveys started about a week ago and we’ve had an exciting start to the season! Over the weekend we attached a transmitter to a turtle named Kailani. This transmitter will monitor Kailani throughout the nesting season to allow us to determine how many nests she lays and where she goes between each nest. We’re Read more about Exciting Start![…]
It’s World Sea Turtle Day so we thought we’d give you a season update – finally! These girls have been keeping us busy! We have passed the 300 mark! We’ve now had a total of 316 encounters this year. Most of these turtles have been seen numerous times throughout the nesting season. We have seen Read more about World Sea Turtle Day![…]
As of last night we reached 150 encounters this season! We’ve had 27 encounters this week alone. We have seen a total of 78 individuals and 19 of those were new, untagged turtles. A few days ago we found a turtle with a PIT tag that we didn’t recognize. We asked around and discovered that Read more about 150 Encounters[…]
This week our team passed 100 leatherback encounters for the season. We are currently at 114 encounters and the peak of season is still a few weeks away. We have seen a total of 71 individuals. 15 of those were new, untagged turtles. This week alone we have had 21 encounters. Our most frequently encountered Read more about 100+ Encounters[…]
Today marks Earth Day and we thought it would be an appropriate time to give you a season update. The team at Florida Leatherbacks Inc. has been so excited for such a great year. We feel very lucky to be doing the work we’re doing and we love to share it with you. We Read more about Earth Day Update[…]