Turtley Amazing: The joys of adopting a sea turtle
In just over six months, Sanchez has swum over 1,000 miles in the Caribbean Sea. She began her journey at Tortuguero, Costa Rica, and she can now be found exploring the remote Miskito Cays of Nicaragua.
Who is Sanchez? She is the green sea turtle I adopted from The Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC). STC is the world’s oldest and most accomplished sea turtle research and conservation group. Dr. Archie Carr, a renowned ecologist and turtle expert, founded the conservancy in 1959 to protect, research and advocate for the survival of the incredible sea turtles. Specifically, the organization works with turtles that live in the Caribbean, Atlantic and Pacific oceans. STC is headquartered in Florida but there are offices throughout Northern and Central America including Tortuguero.
STC’s website is saturated with information on their work and the efforts to conserve sea turtles. While I was exploring their website for the first time, I noticed you could “adopt a sea turtle.” The animal lover in me knew this was something I had to do, especially because I’ve always had a love for these historical and majestic animals.
For $30 you can symbolically adopt any of the sea turtles tracked by the STC. When you adopt you can chose between adopting an already named, satellite-tracked turtle or you can adopt and name a flipper-tagged turtle. I chose to adopt Sanchez, who was already named and tracked by satellite. I chose her because she is quite the active turtle (as you can see on her tracker map). She seems to be enjoying her time at a remote, tiny island. She probably needed some “me time” after participating in the Tour De Turtles.
Tour De Turtles is an annual event that tracks the journey of multiple turtles that embark on a “turtle marathon”, a fun phrase for their migration route. Each turtle is sponsored by a company and represents a cause related to the many threats that these creatures face. Sanchez is sponsored by World Nomads, and her cause is climate change. She came in 7th place overall... not bad for a mature, female turtle like Sanchez.
When you adopt a sea turtle through STC you receive a personalized adoption certificate, a Sea Turtle Conservation Guide, a membership window cling, a sea turtle sticker and bookmark, a hatchling magnet and a one-year subscription to STC's membership publication. This symbolic adoption is a great way to become a part of protecting these fascinating creatures.
I look forward to tracking Sanchez’s journey and learning more about the conservation of sea turtles. I doubt she will make it back to Tortuguero when the Vida team is in Costa Rica, but maybe one day she’ll make her way up to Florida and I can plan to find her there. For now, swim on, Sanchez. The Vida team and I support you!
