Samworth's Seafarer

SCDNR Nesting Female Satellite Telemetry Project

A project of SCDNR Marine Turtle Conservation Program.

click map for full-size version Samworth's Seafarer left the nesting beach and is the only turtle out of the five in 2003 that migrated southward. (However, three turtles in 1998 did migrate to the south). When she reached waters off of north Florida, the signals suddenly reversed course, which none of our loggerheads have ever done. During certain times the speed of travel was greater than five km/hour. This is twice the speed of migrating loggerheads. Just off the south tip of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, the signals turned and headed towards shore as if following the channel into Calibogue Sound. The signals ceased here. These movements and velocity would suggest that the transmitter (turtle?) was involved with a boat. However, the surface time counter in the transmitter indicated that it was still in the water over 90% of the time. This atypical migratory track is a mystery.

Full-Size Map (158KB)
Zoom Map (38KB)

Species: Loggerhead
Life Stage: Adult
Gender: Female
Release Date: 2003-07-08 02:02:00
Release Location: Cape Island, South Carolina
Last Location: 2003-07-28 00:00:00

Background

Samworth’s Seafarer is named for Thomas G. Samworth. Mr. Sam was born in Delaware and was an inventor for the DuPont Company. He was the first editor of The American Rifleman and published more than 45 books on firearms, ballistics and hunting. In 1941 he moved to Dirleton Plantation in South Carolina, which he donated in 1963 to the then SC Wildlife and Marine Resources Department. Mr. Sam began his loggerhead research on South Island in 1968 when he was in his eighties. He conducted daily patrols with the aid of a crutch and coined colorful phrases for depredated nests, such as “cooned out” and “crabbed out”. His data is a benchmark for the nesting effort at South Island.