Sea Turtle Tag and Release Program

Sea Turtles have been part of the Virginia Living Museum's Chesapeake Bay Aquarium Habitat over the years.  For several years we have worked with the Head-Start Program at the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. Juvenile sea turtles are acquired from nests in southern North Carolina and then raised for several years in captivity before being tagged and released into the Atlantic Ocean.

History of a VLM Sea Turtle

The Virginia Living Museum picked up the turtle from North Carolina in October 2008. It was on loan to the museum as part of the Head-Start Program. That sea turtle was 5 lbs when we received it and 70 lbs when it was returned in October 2010.

Sea Turtle Tagging

A tag  was affixed on the top of the sea turtle's shell. The sea turtle, whose name for reference only is "Virginia," was tracked until its tag fell off. The turtle's progress could be seen on the public website seaturtle.org, which has live tracking data from turtles released all over the world. We were able to secure the public data from the tag. The cost of the technology is several thousand dollars.

Release into the Wild
Initially the weather prevented the team from releasing the sea turtle as they ventured out to the Gulf Stream. Pictured to the right is the release of the VLM turtle in October 2010.  It is the turtle pictured in the background.

 
You can follow journeys of sea turtles around the world on this web site: seaturtle.org.