The story of K96151 and K96152: sisters or best friends?

On Friday the 5^th of September at 9pm we tagged 2 girls who were nesting side by side, just a little south of our camp. They were turtles K96151 and K96152 and were both nesting just below the slope of the dune. A couple of nights ago on Monday 22^nd of September at 9pm we came across 2 turtles nesting next to each other. Both had tags. Kelsey read one and I read the other, both singing out in sequence “151” and “152”. Both girls had nested side by side again, exactly 17 days since we had tagged them originally nesting within a few metres of each other!! This time they had nested 130 metres to the south of their original location. Kelsey thinks they are either sisters or best friends and follow each other everywhere! It is either a big coincidence or there is something more to it…. Hmmm?

Then take last week. On one of the nights we were tagging turtles we noticed that a large majority of flatbacks on that particular night had white pigment across the backs of their flippers. Every other night we have had the odd one with white pigment, but this night most turtles had similar markings. Coincidence or is there something more to it….hmmmm?