Mote’s Sea Turtle Conservation & Research Program has tagged sea turtles with satellite transmitters since 2005 to track their behavior and migrations.
- Follow Mote-tagged turtles and read about current projects below: nesting female green sea turtles and male loggerhead sea turtles.
- Looking for a turtle who used to be here? Check out our archived tracks from turtles whose tags are no longer transmitting.
Want to name and track your own turtle?
Mote's Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program is actively seeking supporters to help fund this tagging work. For a $5,000 donation, you too can sponsor a turtle that you can name and track! Consider giving this as a gift for a loved one. Other options to contribute to this work are also available. Please call Mote's Development Office at 941-388-4441, ext. 309, to learn more.
Thank you for your support!
ALL MARINE TURTLE IMAGES TAKEN IN FLORIDA WERE OBTAINED WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE (USFWS) AND THE FLORIDA FISH & WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION (FWC) UNDER CONDITIONS NOT HARMFUL TO THIS OR OTHER TURTLES. IMAGES WERE ACQUIRED WHILE CONDUCTING AUTHORIZED RESEARCH ACTIVITIES PURSUANT TO FWC MTP-155.
NESTING FEMALE GREEN SEA TURTLES
Green sea turtles have been nesting (laying their eggs) along southwest Florida beaches in increasing numbers in recent years. This pattern presents an opportunity to tag nesting females with satellite transmitters to better understand the lives of green sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico. By satellite tagging them, Mote scientists are learning more about where and how often they nest, where they travel to forage (feed) after nesting season ends, and what routes they use to get there.
Green turtles tend to nest in a “saw-toothed” pattern (see graph on the right), with many nests laid one year and few nests laid the following year. Learning more about which individuals comprise these different nesting years may help us understand why they display this pattern.
Turtles that are currently transmitting can be found below. (Previously tracked green sea turtles are here.)
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Looking for a previously tracked green sea turtle? Click here
MALE LOGGERHEAD SEA TURTLES
After they leave the beach as hatchlings, male sea turtles spend their entire lives at sea—unlike females that return to shore to nest. Therefore, males are a more elusive group to study. When adult males are injured or sick and receive hospital care, scientists can use the opportunity to learn more about them by satellite tagging the turtles before releasing them back into the marine environment. Satellite tags can help reveal the post-release behavior of rehabilitated turtles as well as the movements, habitat, home range and migratory pathways of adult male loggerheads in the Gulf of Mexico. (Previously tracked male loggerheads are here.)
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