Adelita (turtle)
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Adelita is the name of the first sea turtle tracked across an ocean basin, the northern Pacific Ocean. A satellite tag was placed on Adelita,[1] a female loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), in 1996[2] by marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols for a research project.[3][4][5]
The Adelita tracking project provided the first proof of the trans-Pacific migration of loggerhead sea turtles.[6][7] Adelita was also the first animal to swim across an ocean while being tracked by a satellite.[8][9]
The 9,000 mile journey of Adelita from Mexico to Japan was featured in the PBS Nature documentary Voyage of the Lonely Turtle.[10] The documentary follows Adelita as she returns to her birthplace in Japan to lay her eggs.[11]