{"id":46039,"date":"2016-09-01T12:55:19","date_gmt":"2016-09-01T17:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orbitz.waveinteractive.com\/?p=46039"},"modified":"2017-06-21T17:47:24","modified_gmt":"2017-06-21T22:47:24","slug":"follow-caribbean-sea-turtles-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/follow-caribbean-sea-turtles-video\/","title":{"rendered":"How to follow Caribbean sea turtles (video)"},"content":{"rendered":"

It turns out that endangered sea turtles like to travel to some of the most gorgeous beaches in the world. They’ve even been known to show up at resorts as luxurious as the Four Seasons.\u00a0And now, in the name of conservation, you can track (and even visit!) these same tropical locales through a program\u00a0called\u00a0Tour de Turtles<\/a>. Here is my story of how I tracked sea turtles in\u00a0the Caribbean and how you can too:<\/p>\n

Related: 6 incredible places to swim with animals in nature<\/a><\/p>\n

\"underwater

Photo of Sel Cisneros at the Four Seasons Resort Nevis by Mario Cisneros, @zeroeye<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Have you ever been snorkeling\u00a0or diving and spotted a sea turtle darting past you? It’s truly a majestic sight to behold. Since sea turtles spend nearly 99 percent of their lives in the water, that’s the most likely place you’ll find them. But during nesting season, which is June to October, adult female sea turtles swim ashore to certain beaches where they lay their eggsin the middle of the night.<\/p>\n

Having recently\u00a0witnessed this phenomenon in the Caribbean as a volunteer with the Florida-based\u00a0Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC)<\/a>, I’ve become aware of the challenges that these stunning creatures face.<\/p>\n

In the West Indies, I trekked the beaches\u00a0on the island of Nevis<\/a> in search of nesting hawksbill sea turtles with David Godfrey, executive director of the STC. And after coming up empty handed the first night, we found three nesting the next night. One of the turtles had yet to lay her eggs, so she was quickly released.\u00a0Asdawn neared,Dan Evans, a senior biologist for the STC, outfitted the other two turtles with GPS satellite transmitters.<\/p>\n

Here’s a\u00a0behind-the-scenes video of the biologist prepping the turtles for their big release:<\/p>\n