One year later - so much gratitude!

One year later - so much gratitude!As a new season of leatherback research kicks off, we wanted to take time to say thank you once again for your generous donations to Project Leatherback via Experiment.com last year.
Thanks to your support of the project, we were able to expand onto additional beaches last year, monitoring nesting activity on beaches that had not previously experienced nighttime surveys.
Thanks to your support we:
•Added 21 miles of beach to our research area. 
•Tagged 54 new nesting leatherback turtles. 
•Encountered 59 nesting females that had been previously tagged on other beaches.
•Discovered high-density nesting on previously undocumented beaches.
•Contributed to the important state and federal database on nesting leatherbacks.
•Provided data which supports protection of these endangered sea turtles.
This year we have a great crew of volunteers and 33 miles of beach to survey. It's going to be a busy year on the beach and we are very excited about getting started.
You can find updates as the season progresses at http://www.floridaleatherbacks.com/blog.html. Your help made all of this possible and we are incredibly grateful. Research projects like this are necessary to help conserve these endangered animals. You have all contributed to the conservation of leatherback turtles.
Thank you from the turtles and from the team at Project Leatherback!                
 
 

Leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) are the largest species of sea turtle, often reaching over 900 kg. The goal of our study, conducted along the beaches of southern Florida is to understand the size of the leatherback population, individual size, migratory patterns, family lineages, and other important aspects of leatherback biology. Studies like ours are critical to help protect this endangered species from the threat of extinction.