Turtle Satellite Tracking Maps 2026 from Kuda Huraa

KAIDO – a large male Olive Ridley, admitted to our Turtle Rehabilitation Centre (Maldives) on 27 January 2026. His injuries includes lacerations on his tail and flippers, with a severely damage carapace. Thanks to treatments and tlc from our resident turtle veterinarian, his injuries slowly started to improve. By May, he had regained normal blood parameters and an ideal body condition, and was healthy and active in the recovery pool.
Although his carapace was not fully healed, Kaido was deemed fit for release in June, to continue his final stages of recovery out in the open ocean. You can track his joureny on our interactive tracking map.
– July: after spending some time around the Maldives following his release, we are happy to report that he soon headed towars Sri Lanka, where an important feeding ground for Olive Ridley turtles is located.
– August: Two months after his release, on 12 August, we lost Kaido’s signal. However, this is not a reason for concern. The most likely explanation is that his satellite tag detached from his carapace and sank, preventing it from transmitting any further signals. His last known locations showed him remaining off the eastern coast of Sri Lanka throughout July, with his final signals indicating that he was travelling eastwards. Although we may no longer be able to follow his journey, we are happy to know that Kaido had successfully reached the open ocean and wish our loyal companion safe travels on his next adventure.

VALKYRIE – was admitted to our turtle rescue centre on 17 January 2026, with severe damage to her front right flipper, requiring immediate amputation by our resident veterinarian. She soon learned how to swim and dive with only 3 flippers, and after careful treatments and watchful monitoring, she was succesfully released on 16 June to commemorate World Sea Turtle Day.
Thanks to the GPS transmitter attached to her carapace, we can see that Val seems to be travelling normally, and has even overtaken Kaido in the race towards Sri Lankan waters!
– July: Val headed towards Sri Lanka, and although she was released after Kaido, she soon overtook him along a very similar route (did they meet along the way??) She did not stop there, and soon appeared to be heading towards Indonesia.
– August: It has now been more than two months since her release, and we are very happy to still be receiving updates. After travelling along the coast of Sri Lanka, her latest locations show her in open ocean, around a series of underwater seamounts southeast of Sri Lanka. Interestingly, our research indicates that this area is an aggregation site for Olive Ridley turtles, making Valkyrie’s presence there particularly exciting. We look forward to following her journey and learning more about where these turtles travel after leaving the Maldives.

Turtle Satellite Tracking Map 2025 – HARRY & ZI

8 June 2025 – Harry was successfully released after attaching a ‘Wildlife Computers’ satellite tag to track her journey. She initially swam South, following the coastline and shallow warm waters of the Maldives, before heading into the open ocean towards Sri Lanka.
July – Harry continued to travel past Sri Lanka, maybe heading towards the Andaman Islands, clocking up more than 3,000km since release.
August – Harry’s journey continued into the Bay of Bengal, before looping back towards Sri Lanka, clocking up 3400+ km since release.
September – Harry continues to make her way, out in the big blue. She has now travelled more than 3600 kilometers, and we hope the satellite tag will keep on transmitting in the coming weeks.
October – Harry seems to have settled around a specific (large) area, that is perhaps popular for turtle feeding. She will be building up  energy strength for maximum health and breeding potential. We hope she will some day go back to her natal beach to lay eggs.
November – We continue to receive updates about Harry’s location! During November, Harry left her feeding ground to start a long journey that has once again taken her close to the shores of Sri Lanka. She has travelled more than 600km this month!
December – Harry continues to spend time in Sri Lankan waters – maybe she’s found a good feeding-ground for the festive period!
January 2026 – we stopped receiving Harry’s signal at the start of January, after an impressive 208 days totalling 6500+ kilometres! This sets a new record for Reefscapers turtle releases, not only for tranmission days but also distances travelled per day. We wish her continued good health.

Zi is a female Olive Ridley turtle, admitted to Kuda Huraa’s Turtle Rescue Centre on 4 April 2025. She had been rescued from ghost netting (drifting fishing gear) and required immediate amputation surgery due to extensive injuries. Zi initially refused to eat any foods, but with continued treatments and care, she slowly regained her appetite and started to improve her health.
9 August 2025 – she was successfully released with a staellite tracking tag. We can see from the tracking data that she is heading out into the open ocean towards Sri Lanka.
19 September – Sadly, we are no longer receiving location data from Zi’s satellite tracker, after logging a total of 1500km of her journey. Maybe the satellite tag has fallen off, so we remain hopeful that she will be continuing her ocean adventures for years to come.

Turtle Satellite Tracking Map 2023 – Seakid

On 23 June 2023, Seakid was successfully released from the beach @fsmaldives Kuda Huraa. He had been a patient with us for about 6 months, after being found floating on the ocean surface, unable to dive down for food. After lots of care and treatment in our turtle rehabilitation program, he overcame his buoyancy syndrome and regained the ability dive once more.

An hour after his release, we received a satellite ping that showed he had already left North Malé Atoll and made his way into deeper waters. Hopefully, he will continue to transmit vital data of his journey around the region, allowing us to better identify areas in need of protection for turtle conservation. We can’t wait to see where he will end up! Have fun, SeaKid! 💙 

Turtle Satellite Tracking Map 2020 – Barbara

Barbara was found floating on the ocean surface, and rescued on 16 March. After a period of tlc and rehabilitation at our Turtle Centre, she was successfully released back into the ocean on 5 October 2020.
We attached a turtle-tracking satellite tag, so we can monitor her movements as she swims around the Maldives and beyond …

Update: Unfortunately, we soon lost Barbara’s signal for reasons unknown; perhaps the satellite tag developed a fault, or became dislodged, or maybe she became a victim of poachers. 

Turtle Satellite Tracking Map 2019 – Peggy

Historical Data – some of our satellite tagged turtles from 2012 onwards

By transmission day #43, Stevie continued travelling in a NE direction, totalling almost 2000km! Sometimes she follows the prevailing ocean currents as expected, sometimes she seems to swim against them (ocean currents map here at ‘Earth’). It’s been noted that she would use the currents at different times of the day to travel. Her transition temperature has varied between 24 – 40°C (averaging 27 – 31°C), implying that she is healthy and not suffering from buoyancy syndrome or signs of entanglement in marine debris (ghost fishing nets).

Day #75 – Stevie has been travelling northeast, totalling around 2750km so far.

Day #93 – The tag was functioning normally until transmission ended on 20 July. Stevie had been traveling NE from her release location, totalling 3200km. It is possible the transmission stopped due malfunction or fouling with algae, or maybe due to a boat strike or poaching close to human habitation in the Andaman/Nicobar Islands.

Nash’s satellite tag continues to transmit regularly at alternating day intervals, giving a long term snap-shot into this female Olive Ridley’s use of the Indian Ocean basin. During July the turtle crossed the equator to the southern hemisphere, travelling close to Addu Atoll in the very south of the country. Nash is currently 600km West of the Maldives, having swum 1,870km since release (a straight line distance of 752km).

(September 2016): Nash is currently traveling towards the Maldives, parallel to her initial swim that led her over 700km west. Although this has decreased her overall straight-line travel distance to 606km, Nash has travelled almost 2,400km in 106 days. In the last 30 days, Nash has swum a distance of 497km, an average of 16.5km per day.

(October 2016): Nash has provided 128 days of satellite telemetry data, ending on 21 October 2016, 49km East off the coast of the Maldives. Throughout her travel in and out of Maldivian waters, Nash swam a total distance of 3015km, with her last transmission just 315km southeast of her release location.
This satellite data is similar to the turtles released in 2015 from Landaa Giraavaru, in which all turtles immediately left the nearshore Maldivian waters remaining 50km from land, swimming into deeper waters before returning to the Maldives. The typical life of the model of satellite tag affixed to Nash is 100 days, so transmission probably ended due to this cause (plus the data shows Nash was actively swimming immediately prior to the cease of transmission).

ESME (CM.080) blue – transferred to our Head Start Programme on 29 August 2014, along with two siblings at the age of nine months, from the local island of Kinolhas (Raa Atoll). At admittance, Esme weighed just 780g with a straight carapace length of 17.3cm. She grew to 30cm in length and reached an impressive 3.6kg in weight, and was released on 15 March 2015 (video) at Makunadhoo Reef, on a guest Turtle Safari excursion.
After release, Esme was seen to head in a Northerly direction, out of the atoll, but unfortunately the tag stopped transmitting on 18 March. The tag may have malfunctioned or fallen off, or she may have been a victim of predation or human interaction.

WANG (CM.079) yellow – arrived at our Centre on 29 August 2014 (with Esme), at the age of nine months. During the six months in our care, she grew to 27cm and weighed 3.3kg, before being released on 18 March 2015 at Makunadhoo Reef (on a guest Turtle Safari excursion).
After release, Wang initially swam in a Southerly direction within the atoll, and is now headed West away from Maldivian waters. He has swum a distance of 2,041km since release, and is currently 256km SE of the Maldives.
The last transmission we received was on 29 April, with the last location being 256km east of the Maldives and 948km from Malé. During the 42 days the tag was active, Wang swam a total distance of 670km.

Gaston (CM.078) green – arrived as a hatchling way back on 29 August 2014 with two additional siblings (both released in early March). By June 2015 he had gained 3.2kg in weight and measured 28.7cm, so we timed his release for World Ocean Day on 8 June, at the Kuda Huraa House Reef.
Gaston is currently swimming in a north easterly direction, towards Sri Lanka and the Southern tip of India – a distance of 619km in 21 days.
The last transmission received was 29 July, day 51 since release, located 624km East of Sri Lanka. Since release, this he swam a total of 2198 km and covered a straight distance of 1487 km from Kuda Huraa.
For yearling sea turtles it is difficult to attach tags that provide long term data due to the shape of the carapace and high growth rate leading to premature shedding of the tags. In studies at other centres, tag longevity is typically 2-3 months, which is the average transmission time of tags deployed on Kuda Huraa Head Start turtles.

NOAH (Hawksbill Turtle released 25-Nov-12 (report & video) – Noah’s tag stopped transmitting on 9 November 2013, after providing us with more than one year of data. He spent most of his time swimming around the same location – close by at Makunudhoo reef, which is well known as a feeding ground for hawksbill turtles. The reason for the failure of the tag is unknown; the battery may have failed or the sensors may be fouled. We hope to keep following Noah with the help of the marine biologist at One & Only Reethi Rah, and we occasionally spot him ourselves on snorkelling trips, close by at Makunudhoo reef, where he appears healthy and active.

SPARTACUS (Green Turtle, released 02-May-13) – stopped transmitting on 17-Aug-13, after travelling a total of 3,866 miles.

ALEX (Green Turtle, released 26-Jun-13) – stopped transmitting on 16-Sep-13, after travelling a total of 2,587 miles.

Kuda Huraa-born hatchlings – These three Green Turtles were part of a nest from right here on Kuda Huraa beach, emerging from the sand on 21 September 2012. After a one year ‘Head Start’ in our turtle-rearing facility, they were released together on 25 September 2013. All three turtles swam initially in the same Easterly direction, seemingly following the oceanic currents.
ALFRED – appeared to be following the same line as Spartacus (yellow) some months earlier, towards Malaysia – this appears to match the oceanic currents in that area. Stopped transmitting part-way towards Indonesia.
MALUO – after initially heading east towards Sri Lanka, he turned northwards following the currents to the north of Maldives (west of mainland India) where the signal finally stopped around the Lakshadweep Islands.
BAILEY – stopped transmitting in March 2014, located off the west coast of India. He managed to clock up a total of 1,600 miles whilst travelling around the islands of the Maldives and then further north around Lakshadweep.