Samia

Cayman Islands 2003: Loggerhead & Green Turtles

A project of Marine Turtle Research Group.

click map for full-size version This loggerhead turtle nested in the Cayman Islands in 2003 and has remained on a feeding ground in Southern Nicaragua since then. Most turtles stay on their feeding grounds for 2-3 years to build up energy for long migrations to nesting beaches. Samia may now be beginning her migration back to the Cayman Islands to nest (this long journey would take her over a month). Her movement is probably causing us to receive better locations from her transmitter. Check back to see if Samia returns to nest in Grand Cayman this summer.

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Species: Loggerhead
Life Stage: Adult
Gender: Female
Release Date: 2003-07-28 00:00:00
Release Location: Cayman Islands
Last Location: 2006-04-26 14:59:45

Adoptive Parents:
Marcia Hyde
Elli Koukoulli-Rowe
Nicole Justice
Nicole M. Moody
Matt & Cheri Lloyd
Marjan Hilbrands
Michelle Zittrer
Megan Maher
Dorann Bickford

Background

"Samia," named by sponsors Erika and Jacob Olde, is the first adult loggerhead turtle to have a satellite transmitter attached in the Cayman Islands. Samia was encountered on a nesting beach in North Side, Grand Cayman, and tagged with a KiwiSat 101 satellite transmitter on the night of July 27 2003. Erika and Jacob's adopted turtle was released early on the morning of July 28 2003.
Samia returned many times and "false crawled" (attempted to nest) on the beach near her release site, before nesting successfully early on the morning of August 8, 2003. She then began migrating to southwest across the Cayman Trench. This submarine canyon is the deepest part of the Caribbean Sea, with a maximum of depth of over 4 miles. Samia reached the coast of Honduras and then entered Nicaraguan waters, passing the Misquito Keys and continuing south.