Heros in a Half Shell – Costa Rica Turtles Tracked By Satellite

With the objective of learning more about Costa Rica turtles, biologists have fitted a tracking device on one of these beautiful marine mammals.
A 150 kg Costa Rica sea turtle nicknamed “Amistad” was selected for this study which has been created to ascertain the connection between the feeding and nesting areas in the warm pacific waters.

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Tracking Costa Rica turtles in warm pacific waters off the coast of the Peninsula de Osa

The turtle was released in late October by investigators from the Widecast Organization in Playa Blanca, Osa, Puntarenas. Amistad has 10 centimeter tracking device fitted to its shell which was donated by the National Aquarium of Baltimore in the United States and this will be used to monitor its movements. This is the second turtle to have a similar device fitted as part of a pioneering turtle monitoring project in the Golfo Dulce.

Turtle nesting season begun in November

The device was positioned at the front of the shell because when turtles breathe, they lift their head and part of their shell of the water. “What we wanted was that it was a turtle that was in the feeding area and that they could give information about nesting season which begun in November,” explained Didiher Chacon, Director of Widecast.
It is hoped that the information that is collected will help better determine protected areas specifically related to the life cycle of sea turtles.