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Kemp’s ridleys evaded the notice of scientists until the late 1800s. Once discovered, scientists took nearly 100 years to find out where and how they reproduce. In the past five years, an unexplained precipitous population decline has scientists scrambling to solve yet another riddle, one that will determine if the future of this critically endangered species is again in jeopardy.
Read MoreKnowing where turtles are in a particular life stage is a critical first step to defining Important Turtle Areas (ITAs), and recent advances in technology are allowing scientists across the planet to begin to unravel many of the mysteries of where turtles go while at sea. One area where this technology was recently applied with great results is the Arabian region, a part of the world not well known for its sea turtles.
Read MoreIf you have ever worked on a sea turtle nesting beach project, then you have probably had the experience of snapping a metal tag to the trailing edge of a sea turtle’s flipper. In recent years a new genetic technique has emerged as an alternative to physical tagging.
Read MoreThe use of small manned aircraft to perform aerial surveys has long been a standard practice in monitoring populations of marine megafauna. The higher the eye, the more it can see. But those flights are generally costly, and engine noise can adversely affect animals’ behavior during low flybys. Small, maneuverable, inexpensive, and no louder than the hum of a beehive, drones are beginning to provide an more powerful tool for researchers conducting aerial surveys.
Read MoreRecapturing sea turtles in the water requires significant resources, including watercraft, fuel, time, and people power, and it may also cause the turtles unnecessary stress. Finding a way to identify and re-identify turtles over time without the need to physically capture them could open up many possibilities for us and for hundreds of other projects that use similar techniques.
Read MoreAkumal, a small town about 100 kilometers south of the well-known tourism mecca of Cancún, was the first tourist destination in Quintana Roo, and tourists flock to Akumal by the tens of thousands annually. As a result, local sea turtle populations and marine ecosystems are now threatened by the impacts of too much visitation.
Read MoreGreen turtles provided a vital source of protein for settlers who arrived in the Cayman Islands more than 300 years ago. For centuries, green turtles were harvested directly from their natural habitats, but the unregulated and unsustainable harvest ultimately led to a dramatic decline in Cayman turtles in modern times. Many other nations that experienced similar declines chose to prohibit the consumption of green turtles, keeping in line with international legislation. The Cayman Islands took a different path and, in 1968, decided to turn to the commercial production of green turtles.
Read MoreSWOT has grown in leaps and bounds since the publication of SWOT Report Volume 1 in 2006. Now that we have seen how far SWOT has come, what might the next 10 years hold?
Read MoreIn an attempt to harness Central Americans’ soccer passion for conservation purposes, a group of sea turtle researchers developed the Hawksbill Cup as a tool to shift the way coastal residents view hawksbills.
Read MoreSea turtles, like all other organisms in the natural world, carry invisible records of their biological history. Researchers simply need to know where and how to look for these records. Stable isotopes are among a growing number of intrinsic markers biologists use to extract information about organisms’ environments without having to observe their actions directly.
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