Satellite Tracking

Sea turtles are migratory, and throughout their lives, adult turtles migrate between their foraging grounds and nesting sites. Bonaire’s breeding turtles return to Bonaire every two to three years for a period of two to four months. They then leave on their regular journeys -- of hundreds or thousands of kilometers -- to return to their feeding grounds.

Each year STCB fits several turtles with small satellite transmitters and tracks their movements. Identifying sea turtles’ migratory routes and distant foraging grounds helps us to better understand the life cycle of our turtles while providing valuable information in support of strategies for regional conservation.

2010 SATELLITE TRACKING UPDATE

Select a sea turtle below to continue...
Doris	Tina

Bruce, Mabel and Funchi fit a loggerhead with a transmitter - photo Marlene Robinson

Hawksbill with transmitter heading back to sea - photo STCB

Map of hawksbill turtles tracked, through 2009, from Bonaire to their feeding grounds - image STCB

We have now tracked 17 adult turtles and watched them travel to the west to the waters off Nicaragua and Honduras, to the north to the Navidad Banks and Puerto Rico and to Los Roques, Venezuela to the east.

These locations are range states, countries where Bonaire’s breeding turtles also spend portions of their lives. As we learn where our turtles go, we can extend our conservation influence to their range states.