Missy (RRV341)
TAMUG Kemp's Ridley Nesters 2007-2008
A project of TAMUG Sea Turtle and Fisheries Ecology Research Lab.
 click map for full-size version Missy (RRV341) is an adult female Kemp's ridley who was discovered nesting at Jamaica Beach on Galveston Island, Texas, on 20 May 2008. Missy was outfitted with a Sirtrack KiwiSat 101 satellite transmitter by the TAMUG STFERL and released at her nest location the same day. Please note that there is a degree of error associated with satellite tracking, and tracks on land may either indicate a nesting attempt or be inaccurate.
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Species: Kemp's Ridley
Life Stage: Adult
Gender: Female
Release Date: 2008-05-20 22:00:00
Release Location: Jamaica Beach, Galveston, Texas
Last Location: 2009-12-03 13:08:59
Adoptive Parents:
Carolyn Field
Shania Cuthbert
Ethan Masters
Rachel Schumann
Aedan Altman Mills
Lauren D.
Jess
Background
A Jamaica Beach police officer discovered Missy (RRV341) nesting bright and early at 5:40 am on 20 May 2008 at Jamaica Beach on Galveston Island, Texas. After laying her nest of 94 eggs, Missy was transported for tagging back to the place where she was raised during the first year of her life: the NOAA Sea Turtle Facility in Galveston, Texas. The presence of a living tag and a coded wire tag confirmed that Missy is a member of the 1989 year class headstarted at this facility. This female is the third and final turtle to be outfitted with a Sirtrack KiwiSat 101 satellite transmitter in 2008 as part of a study to gather data on inter-nesting and post-nesting movements of Kemp's ridleys. She was released at her nest site at 5:00 pm the same day. Missy is named in honor of Melissa Porter of the Texas General Land Office, who oversaw a grant awarded to the TAMUG STFERL to conduct the first formal nesting patrols of the upper Texas coast on Galveston Island during 2007. These nesting patrols have been continued in 2008 and are critical to characterizing sea turtle nesting activity in this area.
The eggs from this ridley's nest were excavated by marine biologists from Texas A&M University at Galveston and transported to Padre Island National Seashore for incubation and subsequent hatchling release. Houston Zoo staff performed a post-nesting ultrasound which revealed the presence of developing follicles, indicating that Missy will likely nest again in 2-4 weeks.
Excitingly, Missy is the first sea turtle to be satellite tracked multiple times by the TAMUG STFERL. On 6 May 2006, she was outfitted with her first satellite transmitter following her first documented nesting on the upper Texas coast near Pirate's Beach on Galveston Island. CLICK HERE to access her 2006 post-nesting tracking information. Missy was subsequently observed nesting on 26 May 2006 at Bermuda Beach on Galveston Island.
UPDATE DECEMBER 2008: Missy was not observed during any subsequent nesting attempts in 2008; however, hatchlings from her most recent Jamaica Beach nest were successfully released into waters off of Padre Island National Seashore last summer. Missy appears to have found excellent foraging grounds in a wide swath of waters south of Louisiana, an area which appears to be a popular foraging spot for many turtles tracked by the TAMUG STFERL.
UPDATE MAY 2009: It appears that Missy isn't nesting this year and has relocated to foraging grounds south of Alabama, an area not previously documented by the TAMUG STFERL.
UPDATE OCTOBER 2009: Missy's tag isn't transmitting location data as frequently as before. However, Missy appears to be doing very well and we are thrilled to be gathering long-term tracking data from her!
