"Vicki
Lee," a loggerhead sea turtle tagged 21 years ago by Mote Marine
Laboratory scientists that has been in rehabilitation at Mote will be
released Friday wearing a satellite transmitter to track her ocean
travels.
The adult female
turtle will hit the waves around 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 25 after getting
her satellite tag - and plenty of good wishes from Mote staff and
volunteers - near the lifeguard tower at the north end of Lido Beach.
Between 7:30 and
8:30 a.m., Mote scientists will attach the tag to Vicki Lee's shell
with epoxy and coat the area with paint designed to keep barnacles and
algae from growing on it. The satellite tag is designed to transmit the
turtle's location to Mote scientists in real time, revealing her
travels after leaving Southwest Florida and adding a new chapter to her
amazing story. This information helps scientists get a better
understanding of her life beyond the nesting beach.
Vicki Lee was
admitted to Mote's Sea Turtle Hospital with a flipper tag from 1988
bearing a Mote ID number, astounding Mote staff who had expected it to
fall off long ago.
In April, the
turtle was found stranded in Naples, where a rescue team from Florida's
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission initially identified her
through a microchip she was tagged with by Mote staff in 2003. The
metal flipper tag placed on one of Vicki Lee's flippers in 1988 was
discovered after her arrival at Mote for treatment.
All told, Vicki Lee
had been tagged during four different years and observed 12 times by
Mote staff before her hospital admission this year:
| Year |
Tag type attached |
Sightings |
Nests laid |
| 1988 |
ID tag |
3 |
3 |
| 1996 |
ID tag |
5 |
4 |
| 1999 |
ID tag |
2 |
2 |
| 2003 |
PIT tag (microchip) |
2 |
2 |
Vicki Lee was
initially tagged during Mote's annual nesting studies of sea turtles.
Mote has been monitoring nesting turtles on Sarasota County beaches
over the past 28 years. Now, with the advent of satellite tags that
track turtles in the sea, we can learn so much more about their lives.
When Vicki Lee is
released on Friday, her satellite tag will allow Mote scientists - and
interested members of the public - to follow her travels and gain a
better understanding of her life.
"Records of Vicki
Lee's nesting history are far better than we usually have for turtles
at Mote's Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital" said Dr. Tony Tucker,
manager of Mote's Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program. "This
valuable background makes her an excellent animal to track by satellite
telemetry. By mapping her route to her feeding grounds, we'll have a
strong understanding of two very different aspects of her life."
Since 2005, Mote
researchers have satellite-tagged more than 70 sea turtles. The public
can follow the travels of Vicki Lee and the other turtles tagged this
season at www.seaturtle.org/tracking (scroll down on left to "Mote Marine Laboratory - Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital").
Satellite tracking
is an important tool for conserving loggerhead sea turtles, which are
listed as threatened under federal law. Sea turtles face a gauntlet of
threats at their nesting beaches, feeding areas and along their routes
between, including water pollution, habitat loss, boat strikes and
entanglement in fishing gear and trash.
Vicki Lee came to
Mote with a more mysterious problem - a condition called lethargic
loggerhead syndrome had left her weak and emaciated. As she recovered
at Mote, she gained a healthy 65 pounds and plenty of strength.
The turtle was
initially tagged in 1988 by Mote staff biologist Vicki Wiese (now
director of events at Mote), who helped begin the Lab's first sea
turtle conservation program in 1982. Vicki Lee the turtle was named in
Wiese's honor.
Jerris Foote, who
worked with and then managed Mote's Sea Turtle Conservation and
Research Program between 1989 and 2005, hopes to be at the release on
Friday to see Vicki Lee go home. "The Sea Turtle Conservation and
Research Program is vital for protecting these species and for
educating the public," she said. "The story of this turtle, that we
know so well, is an excellent opportunity to excite the public about
sea turtles and about being good stewards of the environment."
COVERING THE RELEASE
When: Tagging will begin at 7:30 a.m. with release expected to take place at 8:30 a.m.
Where: North end of Lido Beach near the lifeguard tower.
Interviews:
With Dr. Tony Tucker, manager of Mote's Sea Turtle Conservation and
Research Program, and Lynne Byrd, Mote's medical care coordinator,
following the release.
