In 2026, the Department of Environment launched a new sea turtle tracking project that combines acoustic and satellite telemetry to better understand turtle movements in Cayman waters and across the wider Caribbean. Acoustic tracking is supported by the Darwin Initiative, and satellite transmitter deployments are funded through sponsorships from local businesses and community partners.
Meet the team
Alejandro Prat Varela – Project lead
Alejandro is a marine scientist from Spain, specialising in oceanography and marine ecology, and the Project Leader of @seaturtletrackerky. He has been working with sea turtles with the Cayman Islands Department of Environment since 2013, contributing to research and conservation efforts aimed at understanding and protecting these important keystone species.
Since 2007, he has worked across polar, temperate, and tropical marine environments, studying marine life from microscopic plankton to some of the ocean’s largest animals. Sea turtle research and conservation have been a major focus throughout his career, combining field research with innovative tracking technologies.
Passionate about understanding how marine species interact with their environment, Alejandro is excited to uncover the movements and habitat use of Cayman’s marine turtles through this project, providing valuable knowledge to support their long-term conservation.
Joseph Roche Chaloner – Field lead
Joe has been with the Cayman Islands Department of Environment for over 10 years and is the Field Lead on our Darwin funded Sea turtle telemetry project. He is a core member of the team deploying satellite and acoustic tags to better understand the movements and habitat use Cayman’s marine turtles.
Joe holds a BSc in Wildlife Conservation from Liverpool John Moores University and an MSc in Managing the Marine Environment from Heriot-Watt University. His journey into marine turtle conservation began at 19 when he volunteered on a turtle conservation project in Costa Rica before starting university, a decision that set him on the path to a career in marine conservation and Cayman.
Outside of work, Joe spends as much time as possible in the ocean. Whether surfing, freediving or scuba diving, he’s happiest in the water, a passion that continues to inspire his commitment to protecting Cayman’s marine environment.
Meet the Turtles!
AMBER
Over the coming weeks, Amber is expected to lay additional nests, allowing researchers to learn more about the habitats she uses between nesting events and how female loggerheads move around Cayman waters during the nesting season.
Cayman’s nesting turtles were born here, and so return to nest on our beaches but they actually “live” somewhere else, usually thousands of miles away. When Amber eventually leaves the Cayman Islands, her transmitter will also reveal her migration route and feeding grounds elsewhere in the Caribbean.
Amber’s transmitter was funded through Lagerhead, Caybrew’s amber lager that supports sea turtle conservation in the Cayman Islands.
For every can of Lagerhead sold, Caybrew donates CI$0.05 to sea turtle conservation, and CI$1.20 for every case sold.
Additional support came from Lagerhead launch events hosted by Sunset House and Nova, where CI$1 from every Lagerhead sold during the events was donated to the project.
Where will Amber go next? Follow her journey and find out.
WATTS
More than 20 years after Caribbean Utilities Company (CUC) helped sponsor Sparky, an adult female green turtle tagged on Cayman Brac in 2004, they are once again powering turtle tracking in the Cayman Islands by sponsoring Watts’ satellite transmitter.
Watts was named by CUC as a nod to the unit of electrical power. She follows Amber, named by Caybrew for its Lagerhead amber ale. Together, the names make a fitting pair for sea turtle conservation: amber is the colour used in turtle-friendly lighting near nesting beaches, and Watts is a reminder that the strength of that light matters too.
Watts will help researchers learn more about how loggerhead turtles use Cayman waters during the nesting season and where they travel after leaving our shores.
ATLAS
Her satellite transmitter was sponsored by Maples Group, and her name will be chosen by the firm’s Cayman Islands staff. It is a fitting way for the team to be part of a project that follows Cayman’s turtles far beyond the nesting beach.
Twenty years have passed since the Department of Environment’s last sea turtle satellite tracking project. During that earlier project, turtles quickly became familiar to the public, with people checking the maps daily to see where they had travelled.
Now the maps are coming back.
Check back soon to meet the Maples turtle by name.
airG Supported Turtles
airG, one of the lead conservation partners of the Sea Turtle Tracker KY project, is supporting three satellite transmitters to help researchers follow sea turtles as they move through Cayman waters and across the wider Caribbean.
Each turtle will reveal something different about how sea turtles use important breeding, feeding and resting areas throughout their lives.
Learn more about MiniMe and other applications developed by airG by clicking on the airG logo.
MiniMe 1
MiniMe 2
Adult male sea turtles are much harder to study than nesting females because they do not come ashore. Mini-Me 2 therefore provides a rare opportunity to learn how male green turtles use Cayman waters during the breeding season and to follow his migration back to his feeding grounds.
Follow Mini-Me 2 as he gives us a new view of the lives of Cayman’s green turtles.