Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire

Other tracked turtles 2007 (click on the name for more information): Darwina

November 17th, 2007

We are still receiving signals from ‘Eloise’ that place her in her last reported position on the Albatross Bank off Jamaica.

October 3rd, 2007

Our female Hawksbill ‘Eloise’ has been on the Albatross Bank, some 50 km southeast of Jamaica, since about 16 September and I think these are her home foraging grounds. To get home, ‘Eloise’ swam 25 days and traveled over 1350 km. The Albatross Bank is over 1000 km from ‘Eloise’s starting point on Klein Bonaire.

I don’t expect that we will be generating any more tracking maps for ‘Eloise’ but should she resume her migration, we will let you know.

Our thanks to Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands for sponsoring ‘Eloise’s journey.

October 1st, 2007

'Eloise' is still off the coast of Jamaica on the Albatross Bank.

September 27th, 2007

'Eloise' continues meandering over the Albatross Bank off Jamaica.

September 24th, 2007

Our female Hawksbill ‘Eloise’ is still at the Albatross Bank, southeast of Jamaica. She has been there since 16 September. It is possible that this bank is her home foraging grounds but in the past we have seen turtles stop at places for longer periods of time before resuming their migration. We’ll have to wait and see.

September 21st, 2007

Signals from our female Hawksbill ‘Eloise’ have been sparse for the last several days. She appears to be moving over and around the Albatross Bank, some 50 km southeast of Jamaica. Navigation charts for the area show the bank coming within several meters of the surface. In all likelihood, ‘Eloise’ is foraging for food after her long migration to Bonaire and her nest laying efforts. Typically, sea turtles do not eat until after they have completed their nesting activities. Adult Hawksbill’s prefer to feed on sea sponges.

September 17th, 2007

‘Eloise’ is moving in a southwesterly direction and is approximately 1000 km from Bonaire. Her pace of travel is about 50 km per day.

September 15th, 2007

Our female Hawksbill ‘Eloise’ has moved away from Haiti and is traveling west toward the island of Jamaica. She is swimming at a rate of over 60 km per day and is now approximately 1010 km from Klein Bonaire.

September 14th, 2007

‘Eloise’s last reported position has her swimming along the coast of Haiti and nearing the western most part of the island. Her pace has slowed considerably to about 32 km per day. ‘Eloise’ is over 940 km from Klein Bonaire.

September 12th, 2007

‘Eloise’is approximately 10 km off the coast of Haiti. Her pace has remained steady at around 60 km per day. ‘Eloise’ is now over 880 km from Klein Bonaire.

September 11th, 2007

‘Eloise’ is still headed toward Haiti and is approximately 60 km from the coast. Her current pace is around 60 km per day, down from yesterday’s pace of 70 km. ‘Eloise’ is now 845 km from Klein Bonaire.

September 10th, 2007

‘Eloise’ has turned to the north and is now swimming toward Haiti. She has slowed down considerably and is now moving at a daily rate of approximately 70 km. ‘Eloise’ is over 830 km from Klein Bonaire.

September 8th, 2007

‘Eloise’, our female Hawksbill, continues traveling in a generally western direction. She really picked up her pace and swam at a rate of over 100 km per day. ‘Eloise’ is now over 730 km from Klein Bonaire.

September 7th, 2007

Our female Hawksbill ‘Eloise’ has turned to the west and is swimming somewhat faster. She is now traveling at a rate of about 75 km per day and is over 660 km from Klein Bonaire.

September 5th, 2007

‘Eloise’ has slowed a bit and is now swimming at a rate of approximately 55 km per day. She is still proceeding in the same general direction and is now over 535 km from Klein Bonaire.

September 4th, 2007

Our female Hawksbill ‘Eloise’ is now traveling in a more northwesterly direction. Since our last update, she has swam some 145 km, moving at a rate of just over 80 km per day. She is now over 480 km from Klein Bonaire.

September 2nd, 2007

Moving in a northerly direction, ‘Eloise’ continues on as Hurricane Felix passes directly over her path. The U.S. National Weather Service satellite photo was taken several hours prior to the timestamp on ‘Eloise’s last position and the actual position of the storm is somewhat west of what is being depicted in the tracking map. (The timestamps on ‘Eloise’s positions reflect universal time (UTC) rather than local time and are 4 hours ahead.) ‘Eloise’ is currently 365 km of Klein Bonaire and she is traveling at approximately 80 km per day.

September 1st, 2007

Moving at a little slower pace than yesterday, ‘Eloise’ has turned slightly to the north. She is currently about 310 km from Klein Bonaire and her speed is approximately 85 km per day.

August 31st, 2007

‘Eloise’, our female Hawksbill, has picked up her pace significantly and is now swimming at a rate of over 95 km per day. She is continuing on to the northwest and is approximately 240 km from her starting point, Klein Bonaire.

August 30th, 2007

Female hawksbill ‘Eloise’ is still swimming to the northwest and is now moving away from Curacao. She is traveling at a rate of approximately 50 km per day and is now about 130 km from Klein Bonaire.

August 29th, 2007

‘Eloise’ is continuing on in a northwesterly direction following the coast of Curacao. She is traveling at a moderate rate of about 40 km per day and is slightly over 70 km from Klein Bonaire.

August 27th, 2007

‘Eloise’, our female hawksbill, has finally started her journey back home! As was suspected, ‘Eloise’ did nest the other night on No Name Beach – her fifth nest being confirmed Monday morning - and it appears that she started moving away from Bonaire shortly after 6 AM local time on 26 August. ‘Eloise’ is traveling toward Curacao and is about 30 km west of Klein Bonaire.

August 26th, 2007

A signal from our female hawksbill ‘Eloise’ places her on shore at No Name Beach on Klein Bonaire at around 10 PM local time on 25 August. Although a nest has yet to be confirmed, we would venture to guess that last night ‘Eloise’ nested for the fifth time this season. Subsequent signals have her moving very slowly to the west. Perhaps she is starting her journey to her home foraging grounds at long last.

August 23rd, 2007

Female hawksbill ‘Eloise’ is still in the area. Most of our experience with tracking nesting females is from following the movements of hawksbills and thus far, her behavior is quite typical. After laying a nest, we normally see them move to an area of reef in the general proximity of where they are nesting and rest. A night or two prior to nesting again, they return to the reef in front of their nesting site.

August 16th, 2007

‘Eloise’, our female Hawkbill, is still off Klein Bonaire.

August 12th, 2007

With all the attention being paid to ‘Darwina’ and the leatherback rescue the other day, we failed to notice that ‘Elosie’ had nested on No Name beach on Klein Bonaire very early in the morning of 11 August. This is her fourth nest of the season. Typically here on Bonaire, Hawksbills lay four nests before leaving the area and returning to their home foraging grounds. The image below, from Google Earth, shows her approximate position on Klein at about 1:45 AM on the 11th. The “60727” is ‘Eloise’s designation with Argos, the satellite service that supplies us with our data.

July 16th, 2007 - 'Eloise'

Since being outfitted with her satellite transmitter on the morning of 13 July, we have not been receiving much in the way of satellite signals from our female hawksbill ‘Eloise’.

Normally, the emails containing the location data which we receive from Argos, the satellite data collection system we use, come to us late at night. For Saturday, 14 July we didn’t receive any emails and that was the cause of much concern and anxiety.

In the past, we have used transmitters manufactured by Telonics, Inc. but for this deployment, we utilized a unit from Wildlife Computers. “Perhaps we did something wrong in configuring the transmitter or did not secure the transmitter properly to Eloise’s carapace?” These and other possible problems went through our minds as we waited. Well, we received an email last night and while it contained only one data point, we are glad to report that the transmitter is functioning correctly and that ‘Eloise’ appear to be right off Klein Bonaire.

We are pretty confident we know exactly where ‘Eloise’ she is hanging out thanks to a report and video from Irene da Cunda, a dive instructor and photo-pro at Toucan Diving. While accompanying a group of divers on Friday morning, 13 July, at the Knife dive site, Irene came across ‘Eloise’ resting in 13 m (40 ft) of water and took some outstanding video. Our thanks to Irene.

‘Eloise’ resting at Knife off Klein | Photo courtesy of Irene da Cunda

As is usually the case, female hawksbills nesting on No Name Beach stay around the corner at Knife, Leonora’s Reef or Ebo’s Special after laying a nest. The interval between nests for hawksbills is usually 13 days. Then, they migrate back to No Name in anticipation of nesting again and return to rest when they are done. Here on Bonaire hawksbills typically lay 4 nests. The nest ‘Eloise’ laid the other night was her third so we expect her to remain in the area for a while longer before she departs for her home foraging grounds.

July 13th, 2007: The first turtle tracked from Bonaire this nesting season is the female hawskill 'Eloise'

Working in teams, staff and volunteers from Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire (STCB) intercepted a large female Hawksbill turtle as she came ashore at 10:30 pm on Thursday, 12 July 2007 at No Name Beach on Klein Bonaire. Working into the early morning hours, 'Eloise' was released back into the sea at 2:30 am with a satellite transmitter attached to her carapace. This is the first turtle that will be tracked this nesting season.

If you will remember this past November, Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands visited Bonaire and offered to sponsor the tracking of one of our sea turtles. At that time she requested that the turtle be named after one of her granddaughters, Eloise.

'Eloise' measured 86.2 cm (33.9 in) straight carapace length and her weight is estimated to be in excess of 100 kg (220 lb). Typically it takes anywhere from 15 to 30 years for a sea turtle to reach maturity and they can live to be 60 years old or greater. STCB staff originally tagged 'Eloise' in June 2004 in the waters off Klein Bonaire when she last came here to nest.

This was the third nest 'Eloise' laid this season with her last nesting being on 2 July. It is anticipated that 'Eloise' will lay one or more nests before she leaves the area to return to her home foraging grounds.

Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire exists to ensure the protection and recovery of Bonaire's sea turtle populations throughout their range. Founded in 1992, the STCB is a Bonaire-based, non-governmental and non-profit organization, part of the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network.

Queen Beatrix on Klein Bonaire, November 2006 Funchi and Mabel releasing 'Eloise'