initiative to translate into direct actions that ultimately protect these turtles from unsustainable fishing practices.”

The purpose of the research program is to understand how endangered turtles and sharks use the Cocos Island and Galapagos National Parks marine protected areas, and to see if their is biological connectivity between those new sanctuaries. Sanjay the turtle joins several hammerhead sharks, a silky shark and a Galapagos shark that have spent time at both of these reserves.

“These species are protected while they are in the reserves, but as soon as they swim beyond the no-fishing zone, they are being hammered by industrial fishing vessels that set millions of hooks in the region,”said Todd Steiner, executive director of Turtle Island, biologist and co-primary investigator of the Cocos research program. “Our goal is collect the necessary scientific data to understand the migratory routes and advocate for protected swimways to protect these endangered species though out their migration,” he added.

Satellite, acoustic and genetic information is currently being analyzed and will be officially published later in the year. Information obtained from satellite tags is crucial for interpreting sea turtle movements and to connect habitats occupied during different life stages to effectively design regional conservation measures.

But quality data comes with a high cost – each satellite tag cost around $4,000 and has a high probability of malfunctioning because of the rough ocean conditions the turtles move through.