Shelby

Cayman Islands 2004: Loggerhead & Green Turtles

A project of Marine Turtle Research Group.

click map for full-size version Shelby first nested in the Cayman Islands in 2003, and returned to nest again in 2004. We did not see her in 2005 - but will she return to nest this year? Department of Environment staff and volunteers will keep a lookout for her during night-time nesting beach monitoring this summer.

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Species: Green Turtle
Life Stage: Adult
Gender: Female
Release Date: 2004-08-28 12:30:00
Release Location: Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman
Last Location: 2004-11-04 12:59:15

Background

Shelby has returned to the Cayman Islands to nest in 2004! This adult female green turtle was sponsored by St. Ignatius High School students when she nested in Grand Cayman last summer. After nesting six times on Seven Mile Beach in 2003, Shelby left the Cayman Islands and travelled to a distant feeding ground in Guatemala, where she lived for the winter. For the story of the students' sponsorship and a map of Shelby's journey last summer, see Shelby 2003.
The satellite transmitter we attached to Shelby last year has now fallen off, leaving her shell clean and undamaged (we identified her by a small metal tag that we attached to her flipper in 2003). Last summer, we followed Shelby's migration to her distant feeding ground --- but will she return there this summer? Where will Shelby travel when she leaves the Cayman Islands at the end of the summer? To find out, St. Ignatius students have sponsored a new satellite transmitter to track this Endangered green turtle in 2004.