Loggerhead Sea Turtles Migration Disney’s Vero Beach

‘TOUR DE TURTLES’ TRACKS MIGRATION OF LOGGERHEAD SEA TURTLES TO RAISE AWARENESS

Hundreds of Disney’s Vero Beach Resort guests cheer Aug. 1, 2008 in Vero Beach, Fla. as a loggerhead sea turtle named “Lumiere” makes her way to the Atlantic Ocean to launch the first annual “Tour de Turtles: A Sea Turtle Migration Marathon” hosted by the Caribbean Conservation Corporation (CCC).

Conservation biologists from Disney’s Animal Programs and CCC released Lumiere, the last of eight sea turtles from Florida, West Indies, Panama and Costa Rica. With transmitters affixed to their shells, the sea turtles will be tracked by satellite technology during the next few months as they travel from their nesting sites to unknown feeding grounds. Lumiere and the rest of the sea turtles’ progress can be tracked online at www.tourdeturtles.org.

Each of the turtles will represent a “cause” or threat to sea turtle survival. At Disney’s Vero Beach Resort, the sea turtle named Lumiere will raise awareness of light pollution. Sea turtles rely on moonlight to find their way to the ocean and may be drawn off-course by artificial light sources.

(Gene Duncan, photographer)