An endangered Kemp's Ridley sea turtle named "Johnny Vasco da Gama" made his way back to the Gulf after three years and an exceptionally long journey. Found in the Netherlands, he was rehabbed in Portugal and just finished his final leg of rehabilition at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota before being released into the Gulf waters he was from. TampaBay.com reports:

The Kemp's ridley turtle was rescued in November 2008 in the Netherlands. The turtle was stabilized by the Rotterdam Zoo in the Netherlands and sent to the aquarium Oceanário de Lisboa in Portugal the following summer and was transferred to Zoomarine for rehab.

Zoomarine staff identified the turtle as a juvenile Kemp's ridley — a highly endangered species that spends this part of its life feeding in relatively shallow, warm waters of the western North Atlantic, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico, which is thousands of miles from where it was rescued. To return the turtle to optimum habitat, Zoomarine staff worked with NOAA Fisheries Service, FWC and Mote to obtain special import and export permits and arrange for the turtle's journey to Florida.

Sea turtles in Phuket are moving their normal nesting areas and have deserted a few of their normal lay spots. From the Phuket Gazette:

“Unfortunately, the turtles are not laying eggs on the usual beaches even though it is the nesting season,” (Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong, head of the Marine Endangered Species Unit at the Phuket Marine Biological Center) said.

The number of Leatherback, Olive Ridley and Green turtles are lower than before, a worried Mr Kongkiat explained.

“Climate is a major factor. It determines turtle population size as well as affecting the gender of the turtle’s offspring. The optimum temperature [for turtle nesting] is 29°C. If it’s too hot they won’t lay eggs,” he said.

An officer stationed at the Khao Lampi – Hat Thai Mueang National Park, in Phang Nga, also confirmed that no turtles had laid eggs on the beach this year.

The Black Sea turtles are returning to the Baja Coast. From Huff Post:

Every expedition begins well before the official start and ends far after its conclusion. This is especially the case with The Black Turtle Project, an unfolding and evolving effort to join conservation photography, communication and biology. I can assure you that this project began long ago and will live on into the future. The past two weeks in Baja are just the start of a collaborative effort that will transpire over the coming year and document the nascent and emerging success story of the black sea turtle's return to the Pacific coast of the Americas.

The bad news? Poachers are returning as well. To try to ward off poachers, the Madagascar-based Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust is defacing the shells of turtles to prevent theft. They explain their reasoning in this BBC video.