Florida Hawksbill Project

It's official; it was 20 years ago today we captured our first little hawksbill! According to the log entry, it was a sunny, cool day on the Deep Obsession - first try was at Shark Canyon with no luck, followed by success at Spearman's Barge! Today, the log has grown to nearly 300 pages that include 478 entries, and the database has us in the water for a total of 49,180 minutes! Oh how things add up! I'd like to thank everyone who has been involved through the years! Let's keep the ball rolling!

We are so proud of our students at the University of the Virgin Islands! Winners at International Sea Turtle Symposium:
Makayla Kelso, Katie Ayres and Taylor Brunson. https://stthomassource.com/content/2023/04/06/uvi-students-win-big-at-international-sea-turtle-symposium-in-columbia/?fbclid=IwAR1in4RSMay1CiAbmVHrqUpbzc8DF9CmwaU1f2PWByeUWxa3ZC9EHhE0kso

UVI Students Win Big at International Sea Turtle Symposium in Columbia Approximately 600 attendees participated in the conference, which had 80 student presentations. UVI’s students had an exceptional showing, winning three of the eight awards, an impressive feat for a single institution. 

First 2022 trip back to Key West a success! We were able to release a young hawksbill that had been cared for by the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, and we re-captured two hawksbills we had previously identified over the last few years. These recaptures are critical to the study because they provide data concerning the survival, growth, and movements of turtles that had arrived naturally and those that had previously been in captivity and subsequently released there. In this case, one had been raised in Galveston TX by NMFS after it had stranded in the Gulf of Mexico as a small juvenile. Our team released it in 2019, and sure enough it is doing just fine, and growing quickly just like its wild counterparts.

Thanks to our FIU graduate students Analisa Duran and Liberty Boyd for their expert assistance, and our great NSTSTF Marine Research Team of Anna Bennett, Mike Osborne, and Shane Curry for a productive trip! Many thanks also to the the National Save The Sea Turtle Foundation for their support of the Florida Hawksbill Project! *The Florida Hawksbill Project is authorized by State and Federal agencies to handle sea turtles for research purposes.