Tanzanian Turtle Has Babies – 133 To Be Exact!

Back in August I posted a blog item about my partners Steve Chumbley and Teena Payne. They have a 5-year-old son Aidan Chumbley, and I wrote about his 50-mile bike ride to raise money to adopt sea turtle nests in Tanzania.

Mwisho Migration to Kenya

Of course I contributed because I wanted to help and support Aidan and because it was such a worthy cause. When I donated I was assigned a specific nest (J1235).

And now I have just received word that my sea turtle nest has hatched! 133 baby turtles safely reached the sea. Incredibly the female babies will return to the same beach in 30 years to lay their eggs.

My turtle’s mom name is Mwisho. Her name means “final” in Swahili. Mwisho was given this name because she was the last sea turtle tagged with a satellite chip to track her. Mwisho is part of the first ever sea turtle satellite tracking program in Tanzania. A tag was attached to her shell and Seasense, the organization running this program, is able to follow her movements on a daily basis to identify her migratory routes and the location of important foraging grounds.

What is more amazing is that Mwisho migrated north hundreds of miles to a foraging ground all the way to Kenya! Her tag is still transmitting and she is currently just north of Mombasa, Kenya. Look at the map of her migration. The distance she traveled is incredible. If you want to see her daily progress click here

I had the good fortune of watching sea turtles hatch when I was with clients in Pangani, on the east coast of Tanzania. To see a tiny baby turtle struggles tens of yards to the sea is inspiring. They are bound and determined to make it and with our support I know they will.