IMIS

Lagniappe is an adult female Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle that was found in a burrow pit pond in Southern Vermilion Parish, Louisiana and is believed to have been trapped in the pond since Hurricane Ike in September 2008. The term "Lagniappe" means "an extra or unexpected gift or benefit" and is a term commonly used in Louisiana. The rescue effort for Lagniappe was spearheaded by the Louisiana Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Rescue Program (LMMSTRP), along with the valuable help of other partner organizations such as The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) and the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas (AAOA). The rescue took place on March 11, 2009. Once the turtle was rescued it was transported to the Audubon’s Aquatic Center (AAC). LDWF furthermore secured LMMSTRP the funding to obtain a satellite tag. Lagniappe was outfitted with a Kiwistat 101 tag by Sirtrack. The tracking of a rehabilitated sea turtle is very important to the LMMSTRP program in that a rehab turtle has not been tagged since 2005. Lagniappe was released on October 14, 2009 21 miles off the coast of Grand Isle, Louisiana. Along the Louisiana Coast we get countless stranded sea turtles in particular Kemp’s Ridley. By tagging Lagniappe we hope to gain more crucially valuable data that would enable us to understand more about such an endangered species. The Louisiana Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Rescue Program is a volunteer organization based out of Audubon Aquarium of the Americas through the Audubon Nature Institute. It is committed to the humane care and treatment of injured, ill, or out-of-habit marine mammals (such as manatees) and sea turtles. Dataset credit = the Louisiana Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Rescue Program