Tour de Turtles!

This is going to be THE event of the summer! It starts tomorrow and I can hardly wait.

Tour de Turtles is a fun, educational journey through the science, research and geography of sea turtle migration using satellite telemetry. Created by Caribbean Conservation Corporation, with help from sponsors and partners, this event follows the marathon migration of ten sea turtles, representing four different species, from their nesting beaches to their foraging grounds. How cool is that? Learning about sea turtle migration is important in determining conservation initiatives. Scientists need to know where the turtles go so that they can protect these areas. What better way to do it than with a race?

The Tour de Turtles follows each sea turtle as they complete a marathon migration of 1,628 miles. Wow! That's really far. I hope they don't get tired. Each turtle is swimming for a cause to raise awareness about a specific threat to sea turtles. The turtle I'm following (and rooting for) is Squirt. Did you see Finding Nemo? If you did, then you know Squirt was the name of the little turtle in the movie. I have loved that little guy ever since I saw the movie and was so excited when I saw there was a turtle in the race named Squirt.
This is Squirt. Squirt is an adult loggerhead sea turtle that was encountered nesting on May 21, 2009, in the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, Florida. So Squirt is a girl. Her shell (curved) length measured 107.5 cm. That may seem big, but Mom tells me that this is about average size for an adult female. Mom measures turtles when she goes to Wassaw Island so she should know about this stuff. A satellite transmitter was applied to Squirt's shell after she finished nesting so that she could participate in the Tour de Turtles.

So you may be thinking that I picked Squirt to follow because of her name. Wrong! I picked her because of her cause. She is swimming to raise awareness about the threat of commercial longline fisheries. You guys know how I feel about longline fishing, so it only made sense to follow Squirt. She is sponsored by the Academy at Ocean Reef which is in Key Largo, FL.

All the causes the turtles are swimming for are important. You can watch short video clips about some of the causes and release videos of the turtles on the Tour de Turtles website. Squirt doesn't have a release video - she wanted her release to be private. You can also check out Squirt's migration map, where you can follow her along as she swims.

So go check out the race, meet the turtles, and learn about their causes at http://www.tourdeturtles.org/. You can also learn about sea turtle migration and the science of tracking turtles on the website. The coolest part of the website may just be the turtle player, but I'm not going to tell you what it is - you will have to check it out for yourself. And remember - while we may not know which turtle will swim the distance first, one thing is certain: Saving sea turtles - it's a marathon, not a sprint!