Shehyn, our tracked leatherback, has made the turn south and is headed back our way. Leatherbacks that nest along our survey beaches typically follow the same pattern. We know this from years of looking at satellite data. They use the Florida Current to swim north. Once they reach the Cape Canaveral area, the either keep Read more about She turned![…]
Last night, Niki, one of our permitted volunteers and a staff member at Ecological Associates was conducting some monitoring on Hutchinson Island and ran into an old friend. Actually, it was a turtle that she had tagged on that very same beach 11 years ago while working for Ecological Associates conducting monitoring for a nourishment Read more about An old friend[…]
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![…]
Many people ask why we bother to give names to our turtles. While it may not seem scientifically necessary, it is actually extremely beneficial. Giving our turtles names gives them a history and a story. More importantly, it helps us remember certain crucial things about them. For example, it is much easier for us to Read more about Why do we name our turtles?[…]
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night brought in 16 turtles. We had a pretty good mixture of old and new faces. There were five turtles each on Friday and Saturday night and six more last night. Friday night we saw two turtles that were tagged in 2011 and 2012. Parker, one of our girls from 2014 Read more about Sweet Sixteen[…]
With a small cold front moving through Florida and temperatures dipping into the 50s, we’re adding on the layers. While not cold by most standards, temps in the 50s while driving on a windy, humid beach can bring on the shivers. We’ve had a great week despite the chill. Last night we had a perfectly Read more about Turty McTurtface?[…]
Over the past few nights we have encountered four or five leatherback turtles a night and the loggerheads have been really making their presence known! Last night there were probably about thirty loggerheads on our study area. Now that we are getting into the main sea turtle nesting season, we have put together a few “dos and dont’s” Read more about It’s now getting busy[…]
As we head into May, we thought we would give you a bit of an update on March and April. One of the more exciting bits of news to report is that we have received a grant from the Sea Turtle Grants Program which is funded by the sale of the “Helping Sea Turtle Survive” Specialty License Plate. We Read more about April Update[…]
We found eight more leatherbacks last night in what turned out to be a really fun night on the beach. Busy turtle nights always keep us awake. They kept Liz awake at least. The turtles seemed to be concentrated on the south stretch where she was surveying since she found 7 of the 8. She Read more about 15 turtles in two days![…]
We had seven more turtles on the beach last night. One of these was a new turtle from this year and another girl, Parker, who we tagged in 2014, was back for the third time this year. Tequila, named for Chris on his birthday, returned after a five year absence! One of the most interesting Read more about Seven More[…]