2013 Leatherback Sea Turtle Nesting Season Underway at Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge

A female leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) completes her work at dawn. This photograph was taken as part of a research project permitted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service

A female leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) completes her work at dawn. This photograph was taken as part of a research project permitted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service

Well that long anticipated and exciting time has finally arrived!  Leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) nesting season has officially begun on Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. That means Geographic Consulting’s blog entries will begin again. We will use this blog as a way to share sea turtle research updates and photographs from Geographic Consulting’s staff. We are expecting another big year for returning turtles, but also hope to see some new turtles in the population.

 

The turtle crew has now been back on the beach for a week and we were all surprised to see how much the beach has changed since we left last year. The normal annual erosion process has yet to begin, so we have a large sandy beach ready for turtles to come and nest. We have experienced a relatively slow start; however, we are already seeing a pick up and have witnessed turtles almost nightly. We even had a surprise visit by a large green turtle, who shouldn’t have been nesting until later in the summer. So it will be exciting to see if she will continue returning throughout the season.

 

As we begin the 32nd year of leatherback research on Sandy Point Wildlife Refuge, we hope you are as excited as we are to continue the preservation and study of this amazing animal for generations to come. Please make sure you keep checking back for more updates and pictures as the season progresses. If you have any questions for our staff, please feel free to post a comment and we will do our best to answer as many questions as we can.

Courtney King

Comments

Charlene O'Brien2013-03-27 11:56:12

Courtney and others at Geographic Consulting- thanks for your efforts to preserve, study, and document progress of these amazing creatures.

bdaley2013-04-04 02:54:50

Thanks, Charlene!

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