Lucaya won this year’s Tour de Turtle marathon migration contest for leatherback sea turtles. A satellite tracking device was placed on Lucaya on May 27, 2018 on Soropta Beach, Panama by the foundation’s partner Sea Turtle Conservancy. The female sea turtle, who numbers more than 25 years of age, traveled more than 5,000 miles to win the top prize. After laying her eggs on the shore in Panama, she spent some time off of the coast of Cuba, then swan through Bahamian waters, and finally made her way up the U.S. coastline, from Florida to Virginia. As of November 25, 2018, she is ranging far off the coast of Delaware. Leatherback sea turtles have the longest migration of any sea turtle, known to move over 3,700 miles from their breeding area to their feeding area. Lucaya far exceeded this distance. Check out her travel route using the marathon migration map link.
Blue Project Foundation is sponsoring Lucaya as part of Tour de Turtles. Tour de Turtles is a fun, educational journey through the science, research and geography of sea turtle migration using satellite telemetry. Created by Sea Turtle Conservancy, this event follows the marathon migration of sea turtles, from their nesting beaches to their foraging grounds. Tour de Turtles tracks individual sea turtles, for approximately three months, as they leave their respective nesting beaches and race to complete a “turtle” marathon. The Tour de Turtles competitors swim with the goal of being the sea turtle to swim the furthest distance during the migration marathon.
