Rare sea reptile makes impressive 7,000-mile journey from tropics to northern seas and back

A mama turtle has impressed researchers aft making a uncommon 7,000-mile travel successful 7 months, swimming from the lukewarm waters of Panama to the North Atlantic earlier returning to Florida.

Riptide, a pistillate leatherback turtle from the Caribbean, was tagged and released disconnected the seashore of Panama connected May 22. 

Since then, Sea Turtle Conservancy, an enactment based successful Gainesville, Florida, has been tracking the turtle's agelong and awesome journey. 

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Riptide reached Turks and Caicos connected July 11, and astir saw the seashore of Nova Scotia connected Sept. 14.

She past moved southbound and was spotted adjacent Fire Island, New York, connected Nov. 23 earlier making her mode south, hitting 7,000 miles by Jan. 11.

A pistillate leatherback turtle named Riptide has made an awesome 7,000-mile migration tracked by researchers implicit 7 months. (Sea Turtle Conservancy)

David Godfrey, the enforcement manager of the Sea Turtle Conservancy, told Fox News Digital that Riptide is 1 of the archetypal turtles his enactment has seen instrumentality specified a trip.

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"Riptide is 1 of the archetypal turtles we person tracked from Panama that went each the mode to the North Atlantic and past backmost down to the seashore of Florida successful a spot implicit 7 months," said Godfrey.

"Her 7,000-mile migration is not the longest we person seen, but it is decidedly up determination for little than a year."

"Turtles bash their ain thing, and it volition beryllium amusive to ticker and spot if she surprises america backmost successful Panama this summer."

Riptide is presently swimming successful the waters extracurricular of Jacksonville, and Godfrey predicts that she'll determination down to Panama, wherever she hatched and nested 93 fertile eggs past year. 

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"It would beryllium antithetic for her to nest 2 years successful a row," Godfrey observed. "More likely, she volition proceed to migrate astir looking for nutrient until she returns to the Caribbean successful 2027."

He added, "Turtles bash their ain thing, and it volition beryllium amusive to ticker and spot if she surprises america backmost successful Panama this summer."

Researchers accidental leatherback turtle Riptide traveled from Panama to the North Atlantic earlier returning to Florida waters. (Sea Turtle Conservancy)

Officials aren't definite however aged the long-distance swimmer is, but Godfrey said she's astatine slightest 15 years aged — and "could beryllium rather a spot older than that."

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Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC), the oldest oversea turtle probe and conservation radical successful the world, carries retired efforts crossed Central America, the Caribbean and the Sunshine State.

Godfrey added that leatherbacks person astir nary predators erstwhile they're afloat grown, but for ample sharks — but their top menace is quality activity. 

Scientists tracked Riptide's migration arsenic portion of ongoing oversea turtle probe efforts. (Sea Turtle Conservancy)

"Unfortunately, we humans are their top threat, usually from inadvertently impacting them done commercialized sportfishing activities, vessel strikes and disturbance of their habitat," helium said.

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"There is besides a important magnitude of poaching of eggs and adjacent immoderate big turtles erstwhile they travel backmost to the nesting beach, which are the kinds of things STC works precise hard to curtail."