View some video clips about the turtle program:

Virginia's Sea Turtles: Between 5,000 and 10,000 sea turtles enter the Chesapeake Bay each spring/summer when the sea temperatures rise. The majority of these turtles are either juvenile loggerhead (Caretta caretta) or Kemp's ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) sea turtles utilizing the Bay seasonally as a feeding ground. Green (Chelonia mydas) and leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) sea turtles are also found within Virginia waters, though only one hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) has been reported stranded in Virginia. All sea turtle species are protected under the Endangered Species Act. The Kemp's ridley is the most endangered sea turtle and one of the most endangered animals in the world.

Since 1979, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) has served as the Commonwealth's center for the monitoring, study and conservation of endangered and threatened sea turtles within Virginia's waters. Under the direction of Dr. J. A. Musick, these studies have become an integral part of the educational, research and advisory missions of the institute.

• 250 to 350 sea turtles strand within Virginia's waters each year-mostly juvenile loggerheads and Kemp's ridleys
• Stranding activity peaks in May and June, with a smaller peak in October when the turtles leave the Bay to travel south
• During the peak stranding period, VIMS receives four to eleven calls a day from homeowners (majority), the Coast Guard, local fishermen, the VA Game Warden and local state parks and industries
• Cause of death is varied: drowning due to entanglement, boat strike injuries, cold stunning, illness, ingestion of fishing hooks, plastics or fishing gear. Cause of death can only be determined in a small fraction of the strandings found
• ONLY VIMS and state cooperatives are federally authorized to handle these endangered/threatened animals
• Sick or injured sea turtles are treated and/or rehabilitated before release back into the wild.

Objectives of the VIMS Sea Turtle Stranding Program: To monitor population trends of sea turtles in the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding waters. The Chesapeake Bay is a major summer foraging ground for juvenile loggerhead and Kemp's ridley sea turtles. This region is a unique site within the U.S. where researchers are able to assess the impact of national conservation efforts on sea turtles. Sea turtles are very long-lived animals that may not reach sexual maturity for at least 20 years of age. The Bay provides the first opportunity to evaluate the success of regulations such as trawling limitations, utilization of sea turtle exclusion devices by commercial fisheries and conservation efforts on nesting beaches. Population increases due to conservation programs, or population decreases due to human impact may be detected first within Virginia's juvenile sea turtle population.

• VIMS Stranding Program responds to every sea turtle stranding from the James River north to the Maryland border/Potomac River.
• Virginia Marine Science Museum (VMSM) responds to strandings south of the James River and along the Eastern Shore.
• VIMS coordinates state-wise stranding response via volunteers and cooperative agencies, including VMSM
• Provides real-time stranding data to federal agencies (daily and weekly reports)
• Maintains 21+ year database of all stranding events in Virginia-the longest continuous monitoring program in existence for juvenile loggerhead and Kemp's ridley sea turtles
• Maintains an ongoing mark-recapture tagging program working with local fishermen to tag and measure sea turtles caught within poundnets. Mark-recapture data have been collected for 15+ years.

Current and Future Projects: Since 1979, VIMS Sea Turtle Program has collected data on the long term abundance and distribution of sea turtles within Virginia's waters, sea turtle migration, age and growth, physiology and habitat utilization. This program has included aerial over-flights to estimate sea turtle abundances, satellite and radio telemetry studies to trace migratory patterns, and biological studies to determine feeding patterns, energetics, visual acuity and causes of mortality. Current and future projects include:

• Tracking the at-sea movements of adult and juvenile sea turtles utilizing Virginia's waters via satellite telemetry
• Development of a tagging database to analyze foraging site fidelity and behavior
• Examining turtle interaction with various types of fishing gear in order to develop safer gear alternatives
• Development of a state-wide training program for cooperating agencies
• Development of an educational outreach program for local schools (class projects include tracking movements of turtles via satellite data)

Facilities/Resources: The "Turtle Greenhouse" contains 12 tanks and a flow-through pump system. Live turtles including those that are sick or injured may be kept and cared for within the greenhouse during the summer months.

For more information, please contact:

Sea Turtle Stranding Coordinator
Fisheries Science Department
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
P.O. Box 1346
Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062 USA
Phone: (804) 684-7313
Email: turtles@vims.edu