After sea turtles are released, Aquarium visitors often want to know whether the turtles survive and where they go. Satellite tracking is an increasingly popular method researchers and educators use to collect data on turtle movements. A small satellite transmitter tag is attached to the turtle’s shell to track movements through computer-generated data. The device sends a satellite signal whenever the turtle surfaces, indicating the animal’s location. The satellite returns the signal to a processing center, where the data is translated to a latitude/longitude location and sent back to the Aquarium via email. The location can then be mapped.

Researchers use this same satellite tracking science to determine sea turtle migratory patterns and local feeding and nesting movements. Satellite tag batteries last up to a year and then transmissions cease. Eventually the tag falls off or is knocked off the turtle’s shell. Before a turtle is released, it also receives a flipper tag and an internal tag that can be read with a bar-code reader. Researchers can “reconnect” the turtle with the earlier migratory data gained from satellite tracking if the animal is seen again, such as when nesting.

You can track the sea turtles, too. The website, Seaturtle.org, provides a tracking center for hundreds of sea turtles and other marine animals from around the world, free of charge. Click on the seaturtle.org links below to view active maps of Aquarium turtles with currently transmitting tags, and archived maps for turtles tagged in years past. You also can help support this work by “adopting” a turtle the North Carolina Aquariums have tagged and released.

See migration routes of juvenile loggerheads released in 2007, 2008 and 2009
See migration routes of four rehabilitated loggerheads released during summer 2005
See migration routes of six rehabilitated cold-stunned loggerheads released in January & March 2005