Okinawa Sea Turtles

This project is created to record the sea turtles that are sighted here in Okinawa, There are 3 species of sea turtles that nest in Okinawa: Green, Loggerhead, Hawksbill. Olive Ridleys and Leatherbacks have also been sighted. Okinawa is a great place for diving and snorkeling, not surprisingly many people encounter sea turtles and are able to take pictures of them. We would like to use this project to create a baseline of images of the sea turtles encountered that can be used for potential future studies. For example, understanding their population size, distribution, and ideal habitats. Another possibility is to identify individual turtles based on their facial patterns, so if you encounter a turtle, 3 images would be ideal: a left and right profile of the face plus the dorsal image from the top. If you would like to learn more about Okinawa sea turtles, please visit http://okinawa-turtles.com/

-- Banner Photo credit: Hazel Cruzado (http://www.hazelcruzado.com/)

-- Profile Photo credit: Ben Hicks (http://benjhicks.com/) less ↑