Susie

This morning we met Susie (above). She's a huge green turtle who was caught 2 days ago by a group of researchers not affiliated with SFS, fitted with a satellite tag, and will be released back into the ocean later this afternoon. I don't know if you can tell from the photo how big she is, but my foot in the bottom right corner provides a little perspective at least. She's a giant! We'll be able to track her every move after she's released, and supposedly gain a lot of valuable information about her feeding habits, mating rituals, and patterns of movement. It's pretty sad to see her now though. Having been poked and prodded and out in the hot sun for the past 2 days has stressed her out pretty good. I can't imagine that the post-release data we collect on Susie will reflect her pre-capture behavior and activity, considering that now she's all worn out, has two large TCI flags and a huge blue bullseye on her carapace (from the epoxy), and is weighed down, however slightly, by the transceiver itself. (The white towel in the photo is just used to wet her down and keep her calm.) The researchers must have faith in this project though, considering what they paid for Susie's new top of the line accessory: $3000!