Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire is Tracking Three Turtles in 2010
2010 is a good year for Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire (STCB)’s tracking program as they have successfully placed satellite tracking devices on three turtles found nesting on Klein Bonaire and Bonaire.
Sea turtles are migratory and approximately every two to three years, Bonaire’s turtles return home to nest for two to four months, before migrating hundreds to thousands of kilometers to return to their feeding grounds. STCB takes this opportunity to track Bonaire’s turtles to monitor their activities and learn more about their life cycle.
Valley is turtle number one, released on Klein Bonaire on September 3, 2010. She is an adult hawksbill, and is sponsored by the Valley Foundation. Valley has spent the last 10 days between Bonaire and Klein Bonaire, resting and preparing to return to Klein Bonaire to lay her sixth nest of the season.
Turtle number two is Carice, an adult female green turtle, released September 20, 2010, from Playa Chikitu, Bonaire. She is named after actress Carice van Houten, who was recently on Bonaire to film a National Geographic special, mentioned in a previous story, and is sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund. After laying her second nest of the season, on September 20, 2010, she started migrating in a southeast direction. She passed Las Aves, about 70 kilometers southeast of Bonaire, and passed the archipelago of Los Roques, and continued on to Isla La Orchilla. Once south of La Orchilla, she turned west, back toward Los Roques, where she has stayed for nearly a week, most likely eating and resting.
Piffie is the third turtle tracked this year. She is an adult female hawksbill, sponsored by Pifworld online charity platform. Her transmitter was placed on October 6, 2010, on Klein Bonaire. She has stayed near the coast of Klein Bonaire and appears to be preparing to lay her second nest. (Source: Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire)
