2008 Sea Turtle Calendar

It took a while to put together, but the 2008 sea turtle calendar is available. I get many emails this time of year asking when the calendar is going to be ready, and I was a bit late, but I think it was worth the wait.

This year the calendar features Loggerheads, Greens and Leatherback turtles. All of the pictures were taken along Juno Beach during the past year or two. I think my favorite image on the calendar is the November image of the little "army" of loggerheads running to the ocean.

The calendar can be viewed here or purchased on the Lulu website directly.

a few new images

It has been a while since I have posted anything new here! Here is a new image of a leatherback turtle taken during the 2007 leatherback nesting season. It is one of my favorites of the year! The turtle is named "Clover" and she is a turtle we have been seeing since the 2002 nesting season. Each year she returns, she seems to have something else wrong with her. This year one of her rear flippers had a pretty terrible injury. She nested three times this year - with our help. Clover has a very hard time digging her nests and our crew usually needs to dig her nest for her!

I hope you like the image!

Hawksbill (or possible hybrid) sea turtle hatchling

This little guy hatched out of a nest on Palm Beach during the week of January 29 2007. It is either a full hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtle or a possible hawksbill/Loggerhead hybrid. Although hawksbill turtle can always be found in Florida's near shore waters, their nests are pretty rare in Florida. We will be sending some genetic samples to the lab to confirm whether they are hawksbills or not. Results to come!

He is pretty handsome, isn't he?

African Spurred Tortoise

This is our newest tortoise named Sessie. He has the run of the back yard and has dug himself a pretty impressive burrow. The burrow is probably about 8 feet long and about 3 feet deep. He eats most of the weeds that grow up through the mulch and seems to be enjoying his new home.

Calendar

It is the time of year when everyone is searching for that perfect calendar. How about a sea turtle calendar? Sunrises, the beach, and endangered animals! What more could anyone ask for?!

This year we are featuring a lot of new loggerhead sea turtles that were spotted as they were finishing up their nests along Palm Beach County beaches. Check out a preview here: 2007 sea turtles of florida calendar

She's back!

Just an update to let you all know that our little tortoise was found. A week ago Sunday I was out in the backyard and she walked right up to me. She must have been enjoying some of the weeds in the yard and hiding out in the bromeliads. I guess she decided the food we give her is better!

Another tortoise update: Our friend Larry has given us an African Spurred Tortoise (Geochelone sulcata) named Cessie, so we now have new reptile in the family. She (he?) is probably about 20 pounds, and quite a bit larger than our other two tortoises, but when the new one was introduced, she did not receive a warm welcome from our resident male. She is now out of the pen and free to roam about. Her favorite place seems to be the thick vegetation near the air conditioning unit. Kind of noisy, but i guess she likes it. Chris will take some pictures soon and post them.

Lost Tortoise

We have lost an adult female yellowfoot tortoise in eastern Boca Raton florida. If you have found this girl, please contact 561-228-8006