New website tracks SCCF-tagged sea turtles
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) has launched a website that tracks satellite-tagged sea turtles, with the eventual research goal of learning more about how water temperature impacts their migration routes and foraging behavior.
“A lot of the research on sea turtles is conducted while they’re nesting because they’re much easier to access on beaches, but since they spend most of their lives at sea, there is still so much we don’t know,” SCCF Coastal Wildlife Director Kelly Sloan said. “Satellite tags provide location data for the turtles even when they aren’t observed again on the nesting beach, which allows us to track their movements at sea.”
Next summer, the SCCF will expand the location tracking with tags that also record depth and temperature, providing even more information about the turtle’s environment and behavior.
The new website is thanks to Sanibel-based Hammerhead Technology.
One of Hammerhead’s key contributors is Corrie Presland-Byrne, who has a master’s degree in conservation technology and leads the company’s conservation technology practice. She first met Sloan in 2017 as an intern at the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) when sea turtles were brought to the wildlife hospital due to injury or sickness.
This spring, they reconnected to see how Hammerhead’s Geographic Information System — GIS — solutions and global work in conservation technology could possibly serve the SCCF’s sea turtle program.
“We brainstormed with Kelly on how our work could benefit her team’s sea turtle research,” Presland-Byrne said. “The idea of the public turtle tracker website came to life, and we were more than happy to donate our services.”
The SCCF funded the cost of the satellite tags through fundraising at its Nest Fest in April, and Hammerhead donated the time to create the website.
Founded by Sanibel resident Peter Presland-Byrne, the company partners with nonprofits, governments and industry clients across the United States and Latin America to design and deliver software solutions. One of its most recognized efforts is work in wildlife conservation using GIS technology and custom traceability solutions, including reducing the risk of howler monkey electrocution on power lines in Costa Rica.
“I’ve spent several years in the field, including Costa Rica, and have done much of our work abroad,” Presland-Byrne said. “We are proud to be part of the Sanibel community and are committed to using technology for the greater good — protecting ecosystems, increasing access to services and improving outcomes for underserved groups.”
Since 2016, the SCCF has been tagging turtles with metal flipper tags and PIT tags — a microchip.
“To date, we’ve applied the satellite tags to two turtles,” Sloan said on June 23. “Since we have so much data on these satellite-tagged turtles, it’s useful to have a website to easily view their tracks.”
Loggerheads MumSea and Queen Tutt are the two. MumSea was named by her sponsor and SCCF supporter Linda Linsmayer, while Queen Tutt was named by her sponsor and SCCF sea turtle volunteer Frances Tutt and her husband, Simon. MumSea was seen nesting again on Sanibel on June 20.
The SCCF reported that another goal of the website is to make the tracks and data viewable to other researchers and managers, facilitating collaboration.
“We hope this tracking website will help engage the public in sea turtles and further promote conservation efforts in our area,” she said.
To view the SCCF Sea Turtle Tracking website, visit https://sccf.hammerhead360.com/.