Emily 2

Conservancy of SW Florida Keewaydin Island Turtle Tracking Project

A project of Conservancy of SW Florida Keewaydin Island Turtle Tracking Project.

click map for full-size version Emily 2 (Loggerhead) is 41 km SE of the coast of The Bahamas and 177 km from Nassau

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Species: Loggerhead
Life Stage: Adult
Gender: Female
Release Date: 2011-05-21 00:00:00
Release Location: Keewaydin Island
Last Location: 2013-02-12 08:40:13

Adoptive Parents:
Gahm's Gang
Emily Wheeler
Melanie Klein
Carissa Gran
Debbie Tindale
Steve and Helen Dierdorf
Emily Drake Flower
Madison Carter
Emily L. Miller

Background

Emily was first tagged on Keewaydin Island way back in 1988! This makes her at least 47 years old, since loggerheads reach maturity at about 25 years of age. She is the turtle for which we have the most complete reproductive record. After she was first tagged, she returned to nest again in 1991, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and now 2011! Inclusive of 2011, she has laid 37 confirmed nests, 33 from which we have egg counts. The 3,913 eggs in these nests have resulted in 3,197 hatchlings reaching Gulf waters. There is no question that she has laid more nests than our data indicate; possibly as many as 15. Clearly, Emily is a physiologically robust loggerhead who we hope to see again in 2013.

Update on Emily:

Emily laid her last documented nest on Keewaydin Island on June 27. Data from her satellite tag indicated that she nested at least two more times before she returned once again to her foraging area, which is not far from the southeastern end of Andros Island along the edge of the Tongue of the Ocean. Emily surely knows her way around. The three documented nests she laid this summer all hatched successfully and resulted in 345 more of Emily’s progeny successfully reaching Gulf waters.

We would not have been able to document the 2009 and 2011 chapters of Emily’s amazing life without donations from Conservancy members and grant support from the Marine Turtle Grants Program which is ably administered by The Sea Turtle Conservancy. We are most appreciative of their support!

Please note: Emily's tag transmits every other day. So, this turtle will only appear every other day in the emailed subscriber updates. Please be patient!