Seagrass meadows are natural carbon sinks, and their conservation and restoration play a crucial role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. However, blue carbon projects are hindered, in most nations, by major gaps in understanding the distribution and extent of seagrasses. Here, we show how satellite tracking of green turtles ( Chelonia mydas ) provided a major advance in identifying novel seagrass blue carbon resources in the Red Sea. By tracking 53 nesting green turtles, we identified 38 distinctive foraging sites. All ground-truthed foraging sites (100%) identified a seagrass meadow, surpassing the 40% ( n = 30) accuracy of satellite imagery-based inferences. Sampling from these turtle-derived locations represents a greater range of depths than previously sampled in the Red Sea providing a carbon stock estimate of 4.89 ± 0.83 kg C _org (organic carbon) m ⁻² . By improving estimates of seagrass extent and associated blue carbon, our approach can support the conservation of blue carbon resources in data-deficient regions worldwide.

Marine turtles, such as green ( Chelonia mydas ) and hawksbill ( Eretmochelys imbricata ), face numerous threats across their habitats. While they nest in the Red Sea, limited knowledge exists about their inter-nesting habitats and post-breeding movements. The NEOM Islands support ~ 95% of all documented nesting in the northeastern Red Sea, are crucial for turtle conservation. This study tracked 17 turtles (11 hawksbills, six greens) using platform terminal transmitters during two nesting seasons on Shusha and Walah Islands. We identified inter-nesting areas, migratory pathways, and foraging grounds, with displacements to foraging areas ranging from 34.8 to 501.7 km. Six feeding grounds were identified, four within Saudi Arabia and two in Egyptian waters. Hawksbills used broader inter-nesting habitats, particularly reef systems, emphasizing the need for conservation strategies targeting both nesting beaches and adjacent reefs. Our findings highlight the shared migratory routes of NEOM turtles with other Red Sea rookeries and support the importance of NEOM’s feeding and migration habitats for long-term conservation. The establishment of NEOM as a nature reserve will further enhance protection efforts for these species.

This note aims to report the first recapture of a nesting green turtle (Chelonia mydas) in the Al Wajh lagoon, originally observed, and tagged while nesting in August 2021; and subsequently found in August 2024 under similar conditions. The turtle was first labelled with a flipper tag and satellite-tagged as part of a long-term monitoring effort to assess the post-nesting migratory movements and habitat use of marine turtles in the Red Sea. The recapture in 2024 represents the first record of this nature within Al Wajh Lagoon, specifically at Breem¹ Island. This note provides insights into the green turtle growth, site fidelity, and remigration interval. Such findings contribute to the understanding of green turtle behavior, inform general population assessments, and confirm the importance of long-term marine turtle conservation strategies in the region.