Riptide, a female leatherback turtle from the Caribbean<\/a>, was tagged and released off the coast of Panama on May 22.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since then, Sea Turtle Conservancy, an organization based in Gainesville, Florida, has been tracking the turtle’s long and impressive journey.\u00a0<\/p>\n ARCHAEOLOGISTS UNEARTH CHILLING 16TH-CENTURY GALLOWS WHERE REBELS WERE HANGED AND DISPLAYED<\/a><\/p>\n Riptide reached Turks and Caicos on July 11, and nearly saw the coast of Nova Scotia on Sept. 14.<\/p>\n She then moved south and was spotted near Fire Island, New York, on Nov. 23 before making her way south, hitting 7,000 miles by Jan. 11.<\/p>\n A female leatherback turtle named Riptide has made an impressive 7,000-mile migration tracked by researchers over seven months. (Sea Turtle Conservancy)<\/p>\n David Godfrey, the executive director of the Sea Turtle Conservancy, told Fox News Digital that Riptide is one of the first turtles his organization has seen take such a trip.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE FOR MORE LIFESTYLE STORIES<\/a><\/p>\n “Riptide is one of the first turtles we have tracked from Panama that went all the way to the North Atlantic and then back down to the coast of Florida<\/a> in a bit over seven months,” said Godfrey.<\/p>\n “Her 7,000-mile migration is not the longest we have seen, but it is definitely up there for less than a year.”<\/p>\n “Turtles do their own thing, and it will be fun to watch and see if she surprises us back in Panama this summer.”<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ<\/a><\/p>\n “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.”<\/p>\n 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.”<\/p>\n Researchers say leatherback turtle Riptide traveled from Panama to the North Atlantic before returning to Florida waters. (Sea Turtle Conservancy)<\/p>\n Officials aren’t sure how old the long-distance swimmer is, but Godfrey said she’s at least 15 years old \u2014 and “could be quite a bit older than that.”<\/p>\n CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER<\/a><\/p>\n Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC), the oldest sea turtle<\/a> research and conservation group in the world, carries out efforts across Central America, the Caribbean and the Sunshine State.<\/p>\n Godfrey added that leatherbacks have almost no predators once they’re fully grown, except for large sharks<\/a> \u2014 but their greatest threat is human activity.\u00a0<\/p>\n Scientists tracked Riptide’s migration as part of ongoing sea turtle research efforts. (Sea Turtle Conservancy)<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n![\"Split](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/fl-riptide-leatherback-turtle-makes-long-journey-discovery-1.jpg\")
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