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

A female leatherback turtle named Riptide has made an impressive 7,000-mile migration tracked by researchers over seven months.(Sea Turtle Conservancy)

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coast of Floridain a bit over seven months,” said Godfrey.

“Her 7,000-mile migration is not the longest we have seen, but it is definitely up there for less than a year.”

“Turtles do their own thing, and it will be fun to watch and see if she surprises us back in Panama this summer.”

Riptide is currently swimming in the waters outside of Jacksonville, and Godfrey predicts that she’ll move down to Panama, where she hatched and nested 93 fertile eggs last year. 

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“It would be unusual for her to nest two years in a row,” Godfrey observed.“More likely, she will continue to migrate around looking for food until she returns to the Caribbean in 2027.”

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He added, “Turtles do their own thing, and it will be fun to watch and see if she surprises us back in Panama this summer.”

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

Officials aren’t sure how old the long-distance swimmer is, but Godfrey said she’s at least 15 years old — and “could be quite a bit older than that.”

sea turtleresearch and conservation group in the world, carries out efforts across Central America, the Caribbean and the Sunshine State.

Godfrey added that leatherbacks have almost no predators once they’re fully grown, except forlarge sharks— but their greatest threat is human activity. 

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Scientists tracked Riptide’s migration as part of ongoing sea turtle research efforts.(Sea Turtle Conservancy)

“Unfortunately, we humans are their greatest threat, usually from inadvertently impacting them through commercial fishing activities, boat strikes and disturbance of their habitat,” he said.

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“There is also a significant amount of poaching of eggs and even some adult turtles when they come back tothe nesting beach, which are the kinds of things STC works very hard to curtail.”