Her Story

Bootes is a leatherback sea turtle that was originally tagged on Juno Beach on May 20, 2002. During her first encounter over 20 years ago, she was satellite tracked from her nesting area in Florida to her foraging grounds off of North Carolina and Virginia.

Since that first encounter in 2002, Bootes has been seen nesting on Juno Beach on 12 different occasions. She was weighed in late May of 2022 after laying her eggs, where she clocked in at 817 lbs. She was re-weighed in on April 5, 2024 and was 985 lbs. These fluctuations in body mass are typical of nesting sea turtles, as they do not eat during the nesting season. Bootes will likely lose weight as she continues to nest in 2024.

In an effort to better understand “foraging site fidelity,” or loyalty to areas where these turtles feed, researchers re-attached a satellite transmitter to Bootes on April 14, 2024.