Sea Turtle Tracking

Piffy the movie
Check out this 2 minute video on how we found piffy on the beach and tracked her. Good stuff thanks to all the players that contributed to this project.

Piffie spotted near Puerto Rico?
In the last five days our female hawksbill Piffie has maintained a rate of 1.8 km per hour. She shifted direction, heading toward the north-east and is now very close to Puerto Rico in an area called Caja de Muertos.

Since our last report she has covered a distance of approximately 226 km. Tropical storm Tomas passed over her but did not interrupt or change her traveling pattern. Piffie's 2010 satellite-tracked journey is sponsored by members of the online charity platform Pifworld.

Where's Piffie?
As you can see, our female hawksbill Piffie continues north at a steady pace of 1.16 km per hour. She swam 28 km in the last 24 hours and is now 279 km from Bonaire.

Breaking news - Piffie the turtle back on track!
Piffie, who was near Curacao several days ago, turned and swam back towards Bonaire before changing her direction once again and swimming toward the north. She is now approximately 57.82 miles from Bonaire.

Piffie's 2010 satellite-tracked journey is sponsored by members of the online charity platform Pifworld.

Piffie
Piffie's signals were unclear for the last three days. During nesting intervals, which is the period of time between each nest, sea turtles spend most of their time resting on the bottom of the sea near the nesting site (for hawksbill turtles, this interval is about 14 days). Satellite signals received during these periods tend to be unclear. Because the turtles are in a resting state, they don't need to breathe as often, which means they spend less time at the surface. Satellites capture transmitter signals only when the devices on the turtles' backs make contact with the air. If a turtle's surface time is short, the satellites may not be able to receive enough data to accurately compute the turtle's location. At these times we often receive garbled location data. We watch the data over a 24 period to be able to throw out the poor quality data and arrive at an accurate picture of where our turtles are.

Our analysis of tracking data and our regular beach monitoring each confirmed that Piffie laid her nest as predicted on the night of Wednesday 19th. She departed from Bonaire's waters shortly after, indicating that the nest was her last for this season. Her journey to her home foraging grounds has begun with her swimming in a westerly direction. Signals position her near Curaçao. Perhaps she is following Valley’s path?

Piffie's 2010 satellite-tracked journey is sponsored by members of the online charity platform Pifworld.

Piffie
Piffie’s transmitter was placed on the 6th of October and today, five days later, the signals show that she is just off Klein Bonaire, possibly getting ready to lay her next nest.

This wonderful female hawksbill turtle made it possible to deploy the final transmitter of this year: now we can follow three different females on their special journey back home..

Hawksbill turtle Piffie is tracked in Bonaire!
Dear Players:

Hawksbill Piffie is the third turtle to be tracked in Bonaire’s 2010 nesting season.

A hawksbill turtle nesting on Klein Bonaire was fitted with a satellite transmitter Wednesday night by a team from Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire (STCB). This is the 20th turtle to be tracked since we started the tracking program in 2003.

Based on the pattern of turtle nesting activity observed on Klein Bonaire during the last few weeks, STCB staff predicted the possible return of this hawksbill turtle to the beach for Wednesday night.

A field team consisting of STCB’s staff and volunteers set out at night to monitor the beach on Klein Bonaire for nesting activity. Around 8:00 p.m. a large hawksbill was found crawling up the beach until she reached the dune vegetation under which hawksbill turtles typically nest.

Using her rear flippers she soon started digging a hole for placing her nest, and then she began laying eggs. An hour later, after she covered her nesting area extensively with sand, the approximately 100 kg animal was intercepted by the team on her way towards the sea and a transmitter was applied to the top of her carapace. At 11:00 pm the turtle was released and she quickly departed into the sea.

We waited 24 hours before receiving the first signals from Piffie's transmitter; always an anxious time for the team as we wait to confirm that this expensive piece of equipment will function properly. The first satellite signals place her in the waters just off Klein Bonaire.

The female hawksbill has a shell length of 91 cm and is estimated to weigh about 100 kg. Adult hawksbill turtles come to Bonaire to breed from May through November.

Tracking Piffie is being made possible by a sponsorship provided by Pifworld, an online charity platform where members donate to projects they choose. Pifworld offers a wide range of projects which contribute to positive change for humans, animals or the planet.

First Sea Turtle to be Tracked During Bonaire’s 2010 Nesting Season
Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire (STCB) deployed the first satellite transmitter for 2010 on a female hawksbill on Klein Bonaire last Friday 3rd of September, when she came ashore to lay her eggs.

Sea turtles live in the water all their lives and only adult females come to shore to lay their eggs. They travel sometimes thousands of kilometers to reach their breeding homes. Based on tagging studies is known that sea turtles are loyal to their nesting sites which in most cases are the places where they hatched. After reaching their reproductive size they breed at intervals of two to three years depending on the species and food availability. Tracking turtle movements through telemetry system is an appropriate methodology to address the question of where the foraging grounds are located of the turtles breeding at Bonaire and Klein Bonaire. By identifying the migratory pathways and the feeding ground locations of our nesting marine turtles we deepen our understanding of the potential threats facing these animals.

Name the Sea Turtle!
Hello Players,

The placing of the tracking device will take place soon.
However, before we get started, there is one important matter which must be taken care of: we need you to help us name your turtle!

We want to invite all you STCB supporters out there to nominate the name of your turtle. Will it be 'Jackie the turtle' or perhaps 'Alice the turtle'?

To nominate a name, all you have to do is leave a comment below. Let the name bidding begin!

Cheers,
STCB

Thank you!
Dear Players,

In January, we reached our budget here on Pifworld. Thank you to all Players who supported us and to the Vodafone Players in particular. We are very excited we will be able to track another Sea Turtle in Bonaire.

We will keep you updated on the tracking of your very own turtle. Stay tuned to see video updates, pictures and to know exactly what your turtle is up to!

Kind regards,
Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire