Following on from the collaboration project with Ocean Spirits, University of Plymouth, St. Georges University and OMEF, 5 turtles in total have been fitted with satellite tags that we provided as part of our support for this project. We are delighted that 2 of these were named after Oscar and the Charity!
This is the first time that 5 endangered hawksbill turtles have been fitted with satellite transmitters in Grenada! this tracker will allow Ocean Spirits to follow the movements of these turtles and help us understand where they go in between laying their eggs, as well as where they each go to forage at the end of their nesting season. We are excited to see where they end up!
The 5 turtles were named Libbo, Aurora, Hope, Monty and OMEF and are all endangered hawksbill turtles, we will be keeping an eye on all of their movements and sharing more insights in due course. We are keen to see how this research supports the turtle population of Grenada. On the Images below; the dot colour on these represent time – green are the oldest dots and yellow/orange and red represent more current locations of the turtles travels!
Monty, named due to this being a nickname for Oscar, was fitted with her satellite transmitter on July 9th while visiting her nesting beach. So far she has spent the last month between Grenada mainland and the off shore islands, choosing to rest more in this inter nesting period rather than swimming far.
OMEF was fitted with her satellite transmitter on July 7th while visiting her nesting beach. OMEF clearly loves her nesting area so has chosen to stay pretty close by and not travel too far from this area.
Aurora was fitted with her satellite transmitter on July 7th. She has had a little more adventure so far moving around Grenada, Carriacou, St Vincent and the Grenadines including a swim out into the Caribbean Sea before going back ‘home’ to nest.
Libbo was fitted with her satellite transmitter on July 6th and is the first turtle to have been deployed! Libbo initially stayed close to her nesting area before nesting again and is now returning to her foraging grounds, venturing all the way into the Caribbean sea.
Hope was fitted with her satellite transmitter on July 10th. Hope has spent most of her time in similar areas to Monty, not travelling too far from mainland Grenada and the offshore Islands.
We are really proud to have supported this research including providing the satellite transmitters to make it possible for these turtles to be the first 5 hawksbills to have been fitted with trackers of this kind in Grenada.
Together we are making waves in turtle conservation in Grenada.
Stay tuned to see more updates on this. Make sure your following along on our social media too!
