Dear Friends,
Hawksbill 'Funny' continues traveling in a northerly direction. Her pace has slowed somewhat and she swam approximately 50 km in a 24-hour period. As was mentioned yesterday, she is near a series of extensive shallow-water banks located between Honduras and Jamaica, but her new direction places her on a course directly towards the Cayman Islands. It will be a day or two before we know if the shallows banks are her home feeding grounds or whether she will continue on her journey.

We will keep you posted,

Best regards,

Andy Uhr
Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire

PO Box 492
Kralendijk, Bonaire
Netherlands Antilles

phone (599) 717 2225
cellular (599) 790 0433
email stcb@bonaireturtles.org
website www.bonaireturtles.org

Yesterday Maggie and I welcome Funny's babies into the world. Mabel, Funchi and Robert took us over and we saw over 150 of her babies crawl out of their nest and head into the sea. It was one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life.

Ann you should post your pic here. It's a great picture.

Hope this works!
Here are the babies....

thanks Kelly..aren't they something..I will remember that day forever...sniff..

I would LOVE to see that in person... I will have to make that trip next time I'm there and hopefully will get to see some of the little guys and girls...

kelly....amazing !

awesome!!! thanks for sharing Ann :-)

Denise

Ann

Thanks for posting - where was this - No name beach?

Thanks for posting the baby turtle pic Ann/Kelly! That was one trip we missed...helping with the turtle conservancy project on our last trip just didn't happen...gonna have to make time next trip!

Dear Friends,
The latest data received from our female Hawksbill turtle 'Funny' contained only one data point that was reliable. That data point still contains a wide enough margin for error that I cannot plot with any confidence 'Funny's current location and direction. The data received indicates that 'Funny' is spending far less time at the surface and suggests that she is still in the area of the Sherranille Bank located off the coast of Honduras. It will be at least another day before we know if the shallows banks are her home feeding grounds.

We will keep you posted.

Best regards,

Andy Uhr
Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire

PO Box 492
Kralendijk, Bonaire
Netherlands Antilles

phone (599) 717 2225
cellular (599) 790 0433
email stcb@bonaireturtles.org
website www.bonaireturtles.org

Since Ann was kind enough to post the picture of 'Funny's hatchlings, I thought I would post a picture of 'Funny', the mom. This picture was taken the night 'Funny' laid her next-to-last nest at No Name Beach this season and was fitted with the satellite transmitter. The woman in the photo is Hanny Kalk, one of the sponsors of 'Funny's transmitter and the webmaster for the STCB website:
Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire




Andy

Dear Friends,
We only received a couple of data points for 'Funny', our female Hawksbill turtle but she may be home after 20 days of traveling. Yesterday's data places here right over the Sherranille Bank, a shallow area approximately 360 km off the coast of Honduras. She only covered about 15 km yesterday and is approximately 1340 km from Bonaire. There is the possibility that she is simply foraging on the bank and may continue on. Female turtles do not eat from the time they leave their home feeding area until after they finish nesting, a period which can span several months, and most of 'Funny's journey has been over water too deep to provide food.

We will keep you posted.

Best regards,

Andy Uhr
Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire

PO Box 492
Kralendijk, Bonaire
Netherlands Antilles

phone (599) 717 2225
cellular (599) 790 0433
email stcb@bonaireturtles.org
website www.bonaireturtles.org

Dear Friends,
Again only limited data was received from 'Funny', our female Hawksbill turtle, but it places her in the same general location right over the Serranilla Bank. 'Funny; is spending very little time on the surface, which is a good indicator that she is at home. The Serranilla Bank is located approximately 360 km northeast of Honduras. Several very small cays emerge above the water to form the bank's islands. Overall, the bank is 40 kilometers wide and 32 kilometers long and is considered part of Columbia.

Its increasingly apparent how important the western Caribbean around Honduras and Nicaragua is to Bonaire's breeding population. Not only does it appear that it is home to 'Funny' but 'Extra', our female Loggerhead and 'STINAPA', our female Green turtle reside in same area. "Funny's position is approximately 220 km from 'Extra's last recorded location in October 2004 and "STINAPA' is approximately 320 km away from her.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year,

Andy Uhr
Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire

PO Box 492
Kralendijk, Bonaire
Netherlands Antilles

phone (599) 717 2225
cellular (599) 790 0433
email stcb@bonaireturtles.org
website www.bonaireturtles.org