Report a marine turtle sighting

We are interested in hearing about the marine turtles you spot around the UK. Your turtle sightings are used to gain valuable insights into the health of our ocean. If you do find a hard-shelled turtle, DO NOT return it to the water, it is likely they are in cold water shock. Once you report it, we will contact you and try to recover it to give it the best chance of survival.

When did the sighting take place?

Add the date using the following format: DD/MM/YY

Where did the sighting take place?

Exact location of sighting e.g. use What3words, or you can find the latitude and longitude co-ordinates using Google Maps

Where were you when you saw the turtle?

Where was the turtle when you saw it?

How far away was the turtle from you?

Distance in metres

How far away was the turtle from the shore?

Distance in metres

If the turtle was alive, what was it doing?

If the turtle was dead, what was it doing?

What kind of turtle did you see?

Leatherback
Loggerhead
Kemp's ridley
Green
Hawksbill
Unidentified

If you can, please identify what species you spotted. You can find helpful ID information in the Turtle code on our website.

How many turtles did you see?

Your contact details

Please leave an email and/or mobile number which we can use if we need to contact you for more information about your turtle encounter.

Finally, is there anything else that you want to add?

Other observations, such as the turtle's behaviour, a description of the turtle, identification tag details. If you have any photos to submit, please email them to [email protected] or tag us on social media @mcsuk with the hashtag #TurtleSighting.