The Tag-a-Turtle Project was thought up and created by two zoology students, at the time attending Cornwall College, Newquay. Nicola Morris and Nicole Howarth were passionate about marine conservation in-particular, and wanted to do something to help the marine world.

They soon realised that Cornwall College’s close connection with the Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay gave them a unique opportunity to get involved in a very real way – and the aquarium’s conservation work helping to rehabilitate stranded turtles was a great way to do just that.

There has been a relatively high number of loggerhead turtle strandings along the UK coastline in recent years, and the Blue Reef has played a very active role in caring for the turtles until they are well enough to be released. The turtles are a very rare occurrence in UK waters as it is too cold for them, so they are released back into the wild from the shores of Gran Canaria, where the water temperature is a little more hospitable for them. The problem is, once they are released, we have no way of tracking them. Understanding where they go and what they do in the wild would provide scientists a wonderful opportunity to learn more about these incredible animals, as well as helping to conserve them in the future.

That’s where the Tag-a-Turtle project comes in. We aim to raise £3000 for a state-of-the-art satellite tag that can be fixed to the next turtle rehabilitated by the aquarium. Dr Brendan Godley, of the University of Exeter, will be able to track the turtle using sophisticated scientific software that can track the tag via satellite.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists Loggerhead Turtle as ‘endangered’, which is why it is so important that we understand as much as we can about these wonderful creatures as possible, in order to be able to conserve them as best we can.

The project is supported by the Marine Conservation Society (reg. Charity no: 1004005), and any excess funds that are raised will be donated to the MCS to help their efforts conserving our marine world.

To donate to the project, please click here, or go to our Get Involved page to find out what you can do to help...