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08 September 2007 Tracking turtle ‘Samie’ by satellite [Keyword: turtle ]
A seafood industry group is joining together with Australia’s Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and fisheries conservation partners to launch satellite technology on one of Moreton Bay Marine Park's most vulnerable new migrants - a marine turtle.
Environment Minister Lindy Nelson-Carr said the satellite tag would be attached to a turtle that had recently travelled into the Bay to assess its movement and the effectiveness of turtle conservation measures in the area.
"Samie will be the 259th turtle tagged in the Bay this season as part of the EPA's turtle conservation efforts, but the first in 2007 to have a satellite following its journey.
"Samie's Girl Seafood Markets have funded the satellite tag, which is being attached to the new Bay resident by EPA researchers and staff from the Commonwealth funded OceanWatch Australia. Fisheries consultancy Belldi are project managing the operation.
"I congratulate them all on their commitment to conservation," Ms Nelson-Carr said.
"It is vital that we work together to discover more about where marine turtles live and where they go, so we can keep moving ahead to minimise the threats to these reptiles."
Ms Nelson-Carr said the satellite tracking would help the EPA monitor how much time turtles spend in shallow areas of the bay and where they cruise within these areas, especially where boaties are asked to "go slow."
"We can assess the importance of these go slow zones for conserving turtles and learn more about turtle migration in the bay including where can interact with fishers, boaties and other recreational users of the marine park," Ms Nelson-Carr said.
There is little data available on how turtles at this life-stage behave and move from the open ocean environment to shallow waters, and data from this one turtle's movement will assist research efforts."
Dr Col Limpus, head of the EPA's turtle conservation team, said Moreton Bay was defined as a 'hot spot' for boat strikes, with half of the incidents recorded along the Queensland coast occurring in Moreton Bay.
"Boats travelling in shallow waters and over sandy banks, seagrass beds or coral reefs pose the greatest threats to turtles," Dr Limpus said.
"They also face the threat of being accidentally hooked or entangled by fishers or from disease and pollution issues. Anyone operating a boat is urged to be on the lookout for turtles, dugongs, dolphins and whales and remember to go slow for those below."
Dr Limpus and his research team have been active in the tagging and recapture program since 1990.
The EPA's "turtle rodeo", where loggerhead and green turtles are caught, tagged, and measured before being released, allows researchers to gather valuable data on the migration, site fidelity, sex, maturity and breeding status of turtles, as well as the distribution of turtles with disease and injuries.
This year 258 turtles have been captured, tagged and released. Assessment of the marine animals caught in the research area found 27 to have fibropapilloma disease, which causes tumours to grow on and inside the turtle, and may result in death. Recent boat strike was found on two loggerheads and one green turtle.
Although the overall sample size of loggerheads was small, Dr Limpus believed the data indicated that the incidence of boat strike on turtles had decreased since 'Turtle and Dugong Go-Slow' areas were introduced ten years ago.
You can follow Samie's journey by visiting www.epa.qld.gov.au or www.samiesgirl.com.au
Source: BYM News
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