Turtles Erina and Saga were set free!

Two happy green turtles, Saga and Erina, were released on December 28th to the Phuket-Phang Nga area at sunset during a big gala ceremony. Erina and Saga are both 18 months old. The turtles seemed a bit shy at first; after all, they had never been in contact with the real deep blue before. However, once they got in contact with the water they both seemed extremely happy and took off with a few big swimming motions. Both turtles were equipped with satellite transmitter tags which will enable us to follow the movements and lives of these young seaturtles in the sea.  This is highly important information since virtually nothing is known about the movements of captive bred seaturtles up to date and we are therefore very excited! Five more turtles; Urho, Hilja, Hertta, Kastike and Michelangelo will be released during the first weeks in March and provide us with even more data.

The attachment of the satellite tags was done one day prior to release in Phuket Marine Biological Center. The turtle carapace (the upper shell) was first cleansed with alcohol. Then, a frame was built out of moulding rubber to the shell and resin super glue was poured into it. Finally, the satellite was placed in the glue frame where we hope it will stick for at least six months. Turtles tend to rub their shell against corals and stones to get rid of all excess weight on the shell and sometimes the satellite antenna can break, interrupting the satellite transmission. Hopefully this won’t be the case with Erina and Saga!

Updates on the movements of Erina and Saga will be posted to our homepages, don’t miss it!!!