Satellite tracking

On 27 May 2023 we released a Caretta caretta weighing around 30 kg, named Gioia.

She had been rescued in the waters of La Maddalena National Park on 1 August 2022, after a boater spotted her floating at the surface with a front flipper amputated by an accidental collision with a boat propeller. 

During her stay at the centre, Gioia was rehabilitated to swim again and overcame a serious bloodstream infection. 

Thanks to our collaboration with the scientific contacts of the CNR and CReS within the Regional Network for Marine Wildlife in Distress, and with Asinara National Park, Gioia was fitted with a satellite tag, which has allowed us to follow her movements and to gather environmental data useful for assessing her behaviour and how well she has readapted to the wild.

The map also shows the movements of two other Caretta caretta, which were likewise rescued, rehabilitated and released by the centres of the Sardinian Regional Network.

Satellite tags make it possible to follow a turtle’s movements over time effectively and so to identify their routes, their key habitats and their feeding and breeding areas, as well as to collect environmental data on water temperature and dive times and depths.