Kayla Sargent
Where do you spend your lost years, little ...

In late October, a collaborative team of researchers from Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation and Upwell took a boat into the swift Agulhas Current, the southwest boundary current of the Indian Ocean that runs down the east coast of South Africa. There, they released 12 tiny loggerhead turtles with satellite tags attached to their carapace (top shells) in an effort to understand how these turtles are using this oceanic highway. See where these turtles have traveled over their first weeks in the ocean!

Where do you spend your lost years, little turtle?
Kayla Sargent
Diving Into Underwater Photography with Nuno ...

Nuno Vasco Rodrigues is a Marine Biologist and researcher at MARE IPLeiria. He was named “Conservation Photographer of the Year” by Ocean Geographic Society in 2021. For the past three years, Nuno has photographed Upwell’s work tagging juvenile loggerhead turtles in the Azores Archipelago in partnership with the COSTA Project and the University of the Azores, which is part of Upwell’s Lost Years Initiative. Nuno took some time to chat with us about the highlights and challenges of documenting sea turtle releases underwater. 

Diving Into Underwater Photography with Nuno Vasco Rodrigues
Kayla Sargent
Researcher Interview: Analyzing Data from ...

With a team of collaborators, we tested new specially-designed prototypes of Lotek microsatellite tags on 160 juvenile sea turtles of four species in the North Atlantic. The data from these tags was published in a new article, "Novel Microsatellite Tags Hold Promise for Illuminating the Lost Years in Four Sea Turtle Species." We sat down with lead-author Tony Candela to talk about this article, his process as lead-author, and the important implications of these findings for the bio-logging community.

Researcher Interview: Analyzing Data from Microsatellite Tags on Juvenile Sea Turtles
Bycatch, Sea Turtle Tracking
Kayla Sargent
Leatherback Saved by Fisher-Researcher ...

When fishermen and researchers collaborate, they create opportunities to amplify efforts for the research and conservation of sea turtles. This past spring, Upwell participated in these efforts by providing a satellite tag for Liam Neythan, a leatherback sea turtle that was saved in Sinaloa, Mexico. Our collaborators, the fishers Edmundo Rafael Garcías Burgos and Mariano García Olivas, as well as Dr. Alan Zavala Norzagaray and the CIIDIR IPN Unidad Sinaloa are the key collaborators and heroes in this story.

Leatherback Saved by Fisher-Researcher Collaboration in Sinaloa
Leatherbacks, Sea Turtle Monitoring, Protecting Endangered Lea
Kayla Sargent
Aerial Surveys Result in One-of-a-Kind Finds

Upwell Research Project Technician Sierra Fullmer shares some of her most exciting sightings while conducting aerial surveys to look for leatherbacks off of the US West Coast.

Aerial Surveys Result in One-of-a-Kind Finds

Florida

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Notes From The Field: Monitoring Florida’s Leatherbacks

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Notes From The Field: Monitoring Florida’s Leatherbacks

At the beginning of June, Upwell Executive Director George Shillinger traveled to Juno and Jupiter beaches in Florida to catch the end of the leatherback nesting season monitoring conducted at Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC) and participate in ongoing collaborative research projects. Read more about those projects and meet some of the leatherbacks that were monitored this season!

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Ember the Juvenile Loggerhead Swims out into the Atlantic!

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Ember the Juvenile Loggerhead Swims out into the Atlantic!

Ember the juvenile loggerhead sea turtle was released off the coast of Florida with a microsatellite tag on October 28th, 2022. This blog is the second in a series covering Ember’s rescue, recovery, and oceanic journey.

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Novel tracking technology sheds light on leatherback “lost years”

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Novel tracking technology sheds light on leatherback “lost years”

New technologies are finally shedding light on one of the greatest mysteries in sea turtle biology. Using prototype “micro-satellite” tags specifically designed to fit juvenile leatherback turtles, Upwell and Florida Atlantic University researchers released eighteen captive reared juvenile leatherbacks to track their movements off the coast of Florida and shed light on the “lost years” phase of their lives.

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Leatherback Sea Turtles as Sentinels for Ocean Health

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Leatherback Sea Turtles as Sentinels for Ocean Health

How do you weigh an adult leatherback sea turtle often likened to the size of a Volkswagen Bug?! Upwell’s Wildlife Veterinarian, Dr. Heather Harris, shares her innovative approach to measure the health of leatherback sea turtles during her recent field study in Florida.