Sea Turtle Conservancy

Turtle Rescue in Tortuguero! 🐢❤️‍🩹 A juvenile green turtle, estimated to be one-year old, was found struggling offshore by local fishermen and delivered to staff at Sea Turtle Conservancy Tortuguero. The small turtle was in critical condition, covered in oil, with breathing issues and limited movement. STC staff carefully cleaned the turtle and managed to improve its general condition. After being cleaned, the turtle was placed in a small tank with food, where its condition stabilized overnight until it was ready for release! Thanks to our hard-working staff and members of the community for saving this endangered turtle 💕 Photo and video credit: Daniel Bolom

THE MORE YOU KNOW: TURTLE TRACKING EDITION 🐢🛰️ There are A LOT of things that have to go right in order for us to receive and share a turtle’s location. While we hope to receive a new location every day, that doesn’t always happen, and isn’t cause to worry! Read on to learn more about how satellite tracking works. Polar orbiting satellites are currently used for tracking animals. The satellites are operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Organization (NOAA) and are the same satellites used to monitor global weather patterns. Attached to these satellites are special instruments operated by a French company, ARGOS CLS. These special instruments are designed to listen for transmitters like those we place on turtles and to determine where those transmitters are located. While such a task would seem simple, it is not! Each satellite circles the earth every 101 minutes and so it is only over any one place on the planet for about 10 minutes. For the satellite to determine the location of the transmitter it takes about 3-5 minutes, and the transmitter must be on the surface to be detected. Turtles rarely remain on the surface for that long, and their surfacing must coincide with multiple satellites passing overhead. Thus, the quality and number of locations received for a turtle can vary greatly from day to day. While viewing migration maps, be aware that the plotted turtle movements represent the best data available; however, any given location mark may not be 100% accurate… (continued in comments)

Today is Endangered Species Day, where we highlight and celebrate endangered species found around the world and the Endangered Species Act that protects them. All seven sea turtle species are threatened or endangered, and need our help more than ever, as their threats continue to grow and their protections are increasingly under threat. We will continue to work everyday to help conserve sea turtles, their habitats, and help them survive! • • • #wildlife #conservation #endangeredspecies #endangeredspeciesday #seaturtle

Happy #EndangeredSpeciesDay! We are excited to announce the winners of our Endangered Species Day Writing Competition! 🏆📝 We received more than 100 pieces of writing from around the world that featured sea turtles listed under the Endangered Species Act. The entries were inspiring, poignant, and full of love for our endangered species. We appreciate everyone who entered the contest. Without further ado, our winners are: 🐢Poetry: “Worth More Than Gold” by Sarvesh 🐢Essay: “Bottle Caps” by Enakshi Mandal 🐢Short Story: “One Day” by Lisa Marina Niepelt 🐢Kids: “The Day Liam the Leatherback Turtle Ate a Plastic Bag” by Hamza Bajwa, Age 7 You can read the full winning entries at the link in our bio 🔗

Tortellini update! Nearly two years after receiving her satellite tag, leatherback turtle Tortellini returned to nest in Florida! She was spotted on Jupiter Beach this week by our friends at Florida Leatherbacks Inc. They noted that her transmitter was in working condition but coming un-attached so they safely removed it. They may attempt to re-tag her if they encounter her again this season. For now, Tortellini’s online travels will end here, but stay tuned for updates on the future of this transmitter 🐢🛰️

Join us in celebrating #EndangeredSpeciesDay on May 15! The Endangered Species Act has saved countless species from extinction, including all sea turtle species found in the U.S. Unfortunately, the law itself is under threat of extinction. By sharing your support for the ESA and the species it protects, you can play a direct role in ensuring sea turtles can continue to recover. Our friends at the @endangeredspeciescoalition have organized a list of events and ways to support the ESA on May 15. To learn about how to join a Rally for Gulf Wildlife on May 16, visit our friends’ pages @sierraclubfl , @turtleislandrestorationnetwork and @healthygulf . PS - we’ll announce the winners of our Endangered Species Day Writing Contest on Friday! 🎉

Find your turtle zen today. Deep breaths, focus your intentions on the present and visualize the engagement 🧘🏼🐢. #BeOceanMinded

ACTION ALERT‼️ Starting TODAY, the Florida Legislature is convening to negotiate the 2026-2027 state budget. A critical budget line item for Florida’s wildlife and natural areas is Florida Forever. Since 2000, Florida Forever has been the State’s premier public land buying program, which has set aside around 1 million acres of land for conservation. As development pressure increases across the State, conservation lands are more important than ever. Unfortunately, the Florida Senate budget proposes only $50 million for private land acquisition and the Florida House budget proposes $0 for Florida Forever. In the past, this program has received at least $100 million per year. We need your help to tell Florida’s legislators to fund Florida Forever! Please visit the link in our bio to complete @flwildfed ’s action alert 📩🗣️

THE MORE YOU KNOW: WHERE TO VIEW SEA TURTLES IN FLORIDA 🐢👀 Now that nesting season has officially begun in Florida, we get a lot of questions about the where/how to see turtles. If you want to see a sea turtle in Florida, you can attend a permitted public turtle walk, a public hatchling release, or a nest hatch success evaluation. You can also visit a facility that houses or rehabilitates sea turtles. These activities are conducted by FWC’s Marine Turtle Permit Holders (MTPH). For a full list of locations and activities throughout the state, visit the link in our bio 🔗 Photo credit: Amy Waterbury

Happy Mother’s Day to all the human and reptile moms out there! 🥰 The STC team is currently in Panama visiting our @conserveturtlesbocas station and satellite tagging several new leatherback turtle moms while they come up to nest. Stay tuned to learn more about these turtle moms, available to track soon 💕 Photo credit: @alba_rlujan

Moms around the world never get enough credit. #BeOceanMinded

April In-Water Research Trip Update!🌊 🧬 🐢 Our team was out in the Gulf last month, and collected data on 15 large juvenile green turtles. Check out all of the different data we collect on each turtle. • • • #Science #fieldwork #seaturtle #research #marinebiology *All data collected under appropriate Sea Turtle Research Permits, FWC 118 and NMFS 21327*