By The Sea Lecture Series

Join us after hours for a lecture series featuring local scientists, conservationists, and photographers with brews!

Unwrap The Waves

Loggerhead Marinelife Center's Unwrap the Wave Initiative allows for students and community members to get into the "spirit" of conservation by collecting their candy wrappers from Halloween and recycling them.

- Research -

Research Tracking

Signals From The Sea: Satellite Tracking Sea Turtles

Using satellite tracking technology, researchers at Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC) are collecting important data on sea turtles and their nesting habits. We are able to track the turtles in near real-time over vast expanses of the ocean (check out some of their tracks below by clicking on each turtle's page). By conducting this research, LMC scientists will reveal how many nests each turtle lays in a season (also known as “clutch frequency”), a vital component to understanding trends in population size. LMC researchers have conducted daily dawn nesting patrols in northern Palm Beach County since 1987. However, the total nest counts each year do not equate to the same number of females who nested on local shores, because turtles lay multiple clutches in a single season. Continued grant-funded research will help illuminate how many nests an individual female lays within a season.

There is a lot of census information within our annual nest counts, which is one of the most simple and efficient ways to uncover trends in sea turtle nest counts over large regions and time periods. We do not want to devalue those numbers, but having a greater understanding on how many nests a single female contributes to the yearly total nest count is extremely important for us to be able to properly estimate population size. These data can also be used to identify key areas of use by sea turtles so that appropriate conservation measures can be developed to protect them in their in-water habitats. We greatly appreciate the various donors who have helped fund the project thus far. LMC is seeking additional support to help fund this critically important research over the upcoming years.

These projects were funded in part by grants awarded from the Sea Turtle Grants Program. The Sea Turtle Grants Program is funded from proceeds from the sale of the Florida Sea Turtle License Plate. Learn more at www.helpingseaturtles.org.

Scroll to Top