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.