Adopted Sea Turtle

Ana Luisa being released in October

Today is my birthday—always a popular celebration in our family. And Maia made this year’s birthday even more special by choosing a gift for me that brought tears to my eyes.

She adopted a Sea of Cortez black turtle in my name through www.seaturtle.org. Maia and Evan went to a conservation lecture a week ago and learned what is being done in the Sea. They learned that there are a lot of people working very hard, with little or no money, to study and save the creatures and places we fell in love with this summer.

One effort that is happening is an effort to track and monitor both sea turtles and whale sharks. Maia chose me a black sea turtle called “Ana Luisa” who was named for the woman who gave the lecture they attended.

I can track Ana Luisa-and maybe even wave when we sail past

Ana Luisa was captured as part of the turtle monitoring of the Reserva Biosfera Isla San Pedro Martír (RBISPM). Fishermen from Bahía de Kino captured her last month and after having her vitals checked by an onboard monitoring team she was released a few hours later with a satellite transmitter to better understand how juvenile black turtles use the Sea. This project is supported by CONANP, COBI, GTC, Prescott College, NOAA Fisheries and Alliance, WWF and Telcel.