It’s only April 6th but we’re already up to 37 leatherback encounters! That could be a sign of a good year! At this point last year, we had just 12! Several of our turtles have now been seen more than once. Rosa is already on her fourth nest! Last night we encountered six leatherbacks! That’s Read more about Big Year?[…]
It’s the beginning of the 2018 nesting season and the girls are here! We’ve been anxiously awaiting the start of this nesting season after several low years in a row. Nest numbers have dropped for unknown reasons around Florida since about 2014. However, we’re hopeful that it is just temporary and things will pick up Read more about The Season Has Started![…]
Well it has been a while! Sorry for the lack of updates but the season always keeps us busy. Last night marked our 50th leatherback encounter of the year. Sadly, it’s been quite slow out there. Low leatherback numbers are being reported around the state. After a couple of low years in 2015 and 2016, Read more about Mid-Season Update[…]
We’re so excited for the 2017 research season! There have been a handful of nests reported in and around our nightly survey area in the last three days. We are getting all of our gear prepared to start regular surveys this weekend. It takes a full army of ATVs and lots of Pelican cases full Read more about It’s that time of year![…]
Shehyn stayed just off Hutchinson Island last night as we followed her around for hours. Last night wasn’t her night so we’re back out tonight. A perfect overpass by the weather satellite NOAA18 just gave our team a good location showing that Shehyn was located just south of the Ft. Pierce Inlet. We rarely see Read more about So close[…]
Sorry for the lack of updates but we’ve certainly been busy. In the first 3 weeks of May we’ve had 74 leatherback encounters! That’s despite the fact that it’s been a fairly slow nesting season. We’re excited to be able to capture even more in the coming weeks. Thanks to funds from the Sea Turtle Read more about The fleet expands![…]
We owe a huge thank you to our supportive friends and family for the items purchased from our Amazon Wish List to help us with the 2016 research season. We’re overwhelmed by the support and we couldn’t do it without you. Thank you so much to Jenn Cochran, Jenn and Graham Hogan, Carl Stearns, Bill Read more about Thank you![…]
Last night we were thrilled to encounter a girl that hasn’t been around for a while. She’s also the biggest turtle we’ve ever encountered! Tagged back in 2005 and seen again in 2007, she’s been absent for 9 years. When originally tagged, she had some pretty horrific injuries from a recent boat strike. The propeller has Read more about That’s a BIG girl![…]
We are extremely excited to have had our proposal chosen for funding from the Marine Turtle Grants Program. Funds for this program come from the sale of the Florida Sea Turtle Specialty License Plate and they’re managed and distributed by the Sea Turtle Conservancy. These extremely important funds will be used to help us purchase Read more about Help From Your Turtle Plates[…]
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 Read more about First New Turtle![…]