TRACKING
Where they go and what they do
THIS YEAR WE HAVE A SPECIAL TRACKING STORY:
KATIE’S STORY
G055 is the 55th green turtle we encountered at Alagadi and we have been monitoring her since 1995, so it is likely that she is over 50 years old now. In 1999 we tracked G055 to Egypt where she seemed to be resident, although the tag failed early. In 2003 she was back, and this time we tracked her to Libya. Two decades on, in June 2022, we noticed G055 was back at Alagadi. We therefore are excited to be able to attach a GPS transmitter and dive data logger during her final nest, to see whether she remains faithful to her old foraging site in Libya’s Gulf of Sirte. G055 was adopted in 2022 by the family of Katie Devlin to whom we are very grateful, and who named G055 Katie. Follow Katie here and use this link to share her progress
The moment the transmitter was attached to Katie (G055) on Thursday, 29 July2022 (Photo: Olkan Ergüler).
Katie loved Northern Cyprus and visited often. She felt it was her second home as everyone was so friendly and welcoming.
One trip she visited the SPOT turtle conservation centre and watched a loggerhead lay her eggs on the beach, she was hooked, all she talked about was the turtle work and followed SPOT on Facebook with the intention to visit again and see how she could help. Unfortunately, due to illness, she was never able to make that journey and she passed away in 2021. It seemed fitting as a family that we raise money in her name and have used this to sponsor a turtle through SPOT. To be able to track Katie turtle on her travels is going to be a huge comfort for the family and our small part in carrying out her wishes.
Safe journey Katie, we can’t wait to try and meet you next time you come into Alagadi beach.
The Devlin Family.
DIpkarpaz green turtle trackIng 2018-2019
First Tracking of Nesting Green Turtles from Karpaz Peninsula to Foraging Grounds - Funded by MAVA/p>
Marine turtles are migratory, feeding in one place and migrating, often thousands of miles, to nesting sites where they breed and lay their eggs. The sea turtle nesting beaches in North Cyprus are identified, well studied and the most important beaches are largely protected. However, after turtles leave the nesting beaches and swim away, we have little idea where they go, yet these areas are where the turtles spend most of their lives. That was until the late 1990s when we began to invest in satellite tracking. The only way that we can track a sea turtle in the open ocean is to attach a transmitter and wait for uplinks to be received. If we can find out where the turtles migrate to, we can help to reduce the threats both at that location and along their migratory pathways, through sharing data and collaboration with other countries.
Since 1998 over 100 satellite transmitters have been attached to marine turtles breeding and foraging in North Cyprus. From these studies, we now know that none of the turtles breeding in North Cyprus leave the Mediterranean. The majority migrate to the North African coast where we have identified several key foraging sites for both green and loggerhead turtles including the Nile Delta and Lake Bardawil in Egypt, the Gulf of Bomba in Libya and the Gulf of Gabes in Tunisia where many loggerheads nesting in Greece also forage. Less than 10% of those tracked stay in Cyprus post-breeding, possibly because of heavy fisheries bycatch mortalities.
You can read our published tracking studies at the scientific publications page.
