First satellite tagged sea turtle in Haiti history
In 2023, seven satellite tags were brought to Haiti in late July for this project, with the goal of putting them on adult hawksbill sea turtles to track them in near real-time upon their release. The data gathered from these tags would potentially identify key areas of their use and how many nests the turtle could lay per season. Unfortunately, it wasn't until July 2024 when two satellite tags were finally placed on hawksbills. While there were other hawksbills caught by fishers, none were the ideal candidates to place a satellite tag on, as they were not big enough or healthy enough.
The first satellite tag was placed on an adult female nesting hawksbill. We confirmed with an ultrasound that the hawksbill did have many eggs inside her and she was in good health. We released her on a beach in our fishing community of Petite Riviere de Nippes, with local kids and community members watching. This was the first satellite tagged sea turtle in Haiti history. For three days we watched the turtle head east a few miles near our neighboring village of Miragoane. She got very close to potential nesting beaches a few times but never tried to come on shore. On the third day, while close to the coast, the hawksbill was caught by a free diver, brought to the market and killed.
The second turtle we placed a satellite tag on was an adult male. This turtle headed a few miles west, off the coast of Anse a Veau, where he had originally been caught in a gillnet. On the second day after we tagged him, the hawksbill was again caught in a gillnet. When the fisher retrieved his net, the turtle was dying and eventually did die by the time he brought the turtle to shore. We were fortunate to get the second satellite tag back from that fisher and reset the tag to be used again.
While both turtles did not survive due to different reasons and we only got a few days of tracking data from each turtle, there was valuable information gathered from that data. The tracking data obtained from the first turtle helped us identify potential hawksbill nesting beaches; in an area we had not been considering. The tracking data obtained from the second turtle gave us insight into the habitat of these critically endangered species and the threats they face.
I hope to put more satellite tags on hawksbills in the near future to learn more about their patterns, behaviors and habitats. I will keep you updated!
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