What a great start to our week! Our biologists encountered two previously tagged leatherbacks on south Juno Beach last night. The first was Clinton, a turtle that was tagged just this season by our team. If you remember, Clinton had some fishing line wrapped around one of her flippers the last time we saw her. Our fellow biologists who survey other beaches were able to remove the remaining fishing line from Clinton, so the turtle was fishing line free last night! How many more nests do you think Clinton will lay this season?
The second turtle that our team encountered was spotted just south of Clinton, right before midnight. The turtle’s tags revealed that her name is Sirena, first tagged by LMC biologists in 2004! The turtle was seen nesting again in 2013. This is the first time that our researchers have seen Sirena this season but the turtle looked thin, meaning she has likely been nesting for quite a few weeks.
Stay tuned for more leatherback updates!