Meet "Tilly": The Latest Step in Waterfly’s Ongoing Ocean Pledge
, by Alex Wang , 9 min reading time
Lightweight outdoor bag brand Waterfly (waterflyshop.com), known for crafting stylish, practical, and fun products designed to empower a vibrant outdoor lifestyle, has built an official partnership with the Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC), a nonprofit with more than six decades of sea turtle research and habitat protection work, to sponsor and satellite-tag an adult green sea turtle, subsequently naming her 'Tilly'. Signed in September 2026, the agreement also commits Waterfly to a dedicated co-branded bag, with a ring-fenced pledge of $1 from every bag sold to directly fund real-world sea turtle protection and ocean habitat restoration. By combining a tangible bag and an interactive tracking experience with a real-world animal, Waterfly aims to educate customers about marine wildlife while inspiring a deeper, more engaging connection to ocean conservation.
The name Waterfly is itself a small hint at where this comes from. It joins "water," for fluidity and adaptability, with "butterfly," for lightness and freedom of movement, an idea about gear, originally, but one that leaves a brand with an odd kind of obligation once it starts doing cause work: a brand with water in its own name has less room than most to treat ocean health as someone else's problem. The STC partnership is the most direct expression of that so far, but it sits alongside a running list of other commitments, on land and in communities, that the sections below lay out.
Sea turtles move through nearly every part of the marine ecosystem they touch: nesting beaches, seagrass meadows, coral reefs, open water. That range is exactly why plastic pollution, habitat loss, and bycatch have pushed most species onto threatened or endangered lists, and why the work the Sea Turtle Conservancy has built over 60 years, through tagging programs, nesting-beach protection and public education, carries weight beyond any one species. For a gear brand whose products are made for people who spend time outdoors, that fieldwork was a more direct fit than a general environmental donation would have been.
What the partnership actually is, in its first year
Waterfly has officially partnered with STC by sponsoring and satellite-tagging an adult green sea turtle named “Tilly”, released from Tortuguero, Costa Rica, one of the most important nesting sites in the Western Hemisphere. Tilly is short for Matilda, from Old German words meaning strength and battle, a fitting name for a turtle who finished nesting and went back to sea carrying a satellite tag. Sea turtles are among the great long-distance travelers of the planet, and Waterfly makes bags for people who like to explore on their own two feet. Waterfly hopes that following Tilly’s journey reminds people to get outside and enjoy their own lives too.
Caption: Overview of the Waterfly x Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC) sea turtle tracking partnership, detailing the September 2026 agreement, the $1-per-bag pledge, and key tracking data for “Tilly,” the satellite-tagged green sea turtle. (Source: Waterfly x STC)
Alongside this tracking initiative, Waterfly has committed to a co-branded bag that will send a fixed $1 from every bag sold directly back to STC’s ocean habitat restoration programs. This ring-fenced $1-per-bag pledge ensures that every purchase of this dedicated bag directly funds real-world conservation.
Tilly was found nesting at Tortuguero on October 1, 2026, an adult female who measured 103.3 cm in curved carapace length. A satellite tag was applied after she finished nesting.
Caption: Researchers attaching a satellite transmitter to adult green sea turtle "Tilly" after nesting. (Photo: Sea Turtle Conservancy)
After tagging, Tilly returned to the sea from Tortuguero beach with her transmitter active.
Caption: Tilly returning to the ocean at Tortuguero beach, Costa Rica, on October 1, 2026. (Photo: Sea Turtle Conservancy)
Through a dedicated tracking page on conserveturtles.org/turtle/waterfly, customers and supporters can follow her migration path across the Caribbean as new locations come in, turning a cause claim into transparent, trackable wildlife conservation.
Caption: Tilly’s satellite migration map (as of October 13, 2026) showing tracked locations near Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica. Updated by STC as new locations arrive. (Map & Data: Sea Turtle Conservancy)
Beyond funding, Waterfly’s gear is directly powering STC’s frontline operations. In an official letter dated October 16, 2026, STC Executive Director David Godfrey thanked Waterfly for donating 30 outdoor bags for field staff carrying out sea turtle conservation, alongside two larger backpacks for an upcoming fundraising auction.
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"Waterfly produces exactly the kinds of outdoor bags that are beautiful, functional, and highly durable," noted Godfrey. "They are perfect for the kind of field work we do with sea turtles." |
Caption: Official thank-you letter from Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC) Executive Director David Godfrey, recognizing Waterfly’s donation of 30 outdoor bags and two fundraising auction backpacks. (Photo: Sea Turtle Conservancy / Waterfly)
