Bonaire’s Green Sea Turtle Bonni’s Legacy.
What happened to Bonni and what of her nests?
For those Bonaire Insider readers who have been following the extraordinary saga of Green Sea Turtle Bonni, we now have the final chapter in her story and her legacy.
Bonni was outfitted with a transmitter in September.
Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire (STCB) outfitted a green sea turtle with a satellite transmitter back in mid-September, and the turtle was named “Bonni.” Bonni went on to become quite a famous sea turtle while STCB researchers tracked her every movement.
Bonni “just keeps swimming.”
STCB was surprised to find that Bonni, after laying her third nest and swimming away, then did a complete 180 and swam back to Bonaire to lay a fourth nest.
But that wasn’t all. Bonni seemed to meander back and forth along the northern coastal areas of Venezuela but she kept returning to Bonaire, stunning STCB researchers. They had never before observed such behavior from a migrating female turtle, who come to Bonaire to lay their nests on the beach where they were born. Bonni laid an unprecedented fourth nest, and then a fifth nest, almost while her first nest was hatching, and then attempted a sixth (unsuccessful) nest. Then she headed back to the southeast once again, foraging on the rich seagrass beds of the western portion of the Los Roques Archipelago. After nearly three months of swimming, Bonni has finally stopped, and STCB researchers believe this area of Los Roques to be her foraging home.
Meanwhile, back on Bonaire.
STCB is delighted to announce that Bonni’s final successful nest hatched on December 2, 2018. Sixty-three green turtle hatchlings made it safely to the sea to begin the next generation.
SCTB – Atlantis hatch December 2, 2018 by Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire
And what of Bonni?
Well, everyone on Bonaire hopes to be able to welcome her back either next year or the year after.
(Source: STCB)
