Myles - Cayman Islands 2003: Loggerhead & Green Turtles

A project of Marine Turtle Research Group.

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Last 14 Days

Myles has now been tracked at sea for 283 days. She lived on the border between Belize and Mexico during the fall, winter, and spring - but on May 23rd, she suddenly began swimming north into Mexico! Where is she going? And why?? The colors on her map indicate increasing sea surface temperature: could this be triggering Myles' movement? Double click the Myles' map to expand it, and then click "zoom map" at the top to see a close-up of her journey. On May 26, Myles reached Punta Gavilan, Mexico - an area known for its dense turtle grass beds (seagrasses are a favorite food for green turtles like Myles). Until this week, Myles made her home-away-from-home near the spectacular Barrier Reef and mangrove lagoons of Northern Belize. We don't expect to see Myles back in the Cayman Islands this summer - sea turtles do not nest every year, but we'll be tracking five NEW turtles from the Cayman Islands. Will they join Myles, Shelby, and Samia? Or will they find feeding grounds in other countries?? Watch SEATURTLE.ORG to find out where they go!

Background

"Myles," sponsored and named by the students at St. Ignatius High School, is the second adult female green turtle to have a satellite transmitter attached in the Cayman Islands. To purchase the transmitter and associated satellite time, St. Ignatius students organised a beach clean-up at Barkers National Park and held a successful bake sale, in addition to seeking and receiving generous sponsorship from Tortuga Rum Company, Rotary, Bank of Butterfield, and the Final Touch. As a result of the students' efforts, Myles was tagged with a KiwiSat 101 satellite transmitter when she was encountered on Seven Mile Beach on the night of August 21 2003.
Myles remained in the vicinity of Seven Mile Beach to nest several times after her release. Just before she began her migration, a Seven Mile Beach resident heard the unmistakable sound of pounds of sand being flung against leaves and bushes on the beach! He crept closer to an enormous shape in the Sea Grape shrubs and spotted Myles, topped by her new PTT! Using her powerful front flippers, Myles was digging a large body pit in the sand. When pit was complete, she excavated an egg chamber with her rear flippers and laid a clutch of over one hundred eggs, before covering and concealing her nest with mounds of sand. Concerned residents monitored the beach during the night, until Myles finished nesting and returned to the sea. The nests Myles laid at the beginning of the summer are now hatching, and the baby turtles (called hatchlings) are digging out of the sand at night and running down the beach to the sea.
Myles began her migration on 10 September 2003 and travelled over 700 kilometers across opean ocean to the coast of Central America. She now seems to be feeding on seagrass beds on the border between Belize and Mexico.

• The presentation of data here does not constitute publication. All data remain copyright of the project partners. Maps or data on this website may not be used or referenced without the explicit written consent of the data owners.
• For more information please visit the project website.
• This map connects positions generated by the ARGOS system designated as location codes (lc) '3', '2', '1', 'A'.
• The static maps also shows locations of class 'B' as small black circles which are not connected by a route line.
• Bathymetry layers are derived from the GEBCO Digital Atlas published by the British Oceanographic Data Centre on behalf of the IOC and IHO, 2003, and the ETOPO2 Global 2' Elevations published by NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center.
• Sea surface temperature is derived from NOAA's GOES Daily Sea Surface Temperature data.

SEATURTLE.ORG collaborates with Argos to help scientists and conservationists manage and analyse their valuable animal tracking data.