Save Our Seas Foundation - Projects - Marine Megafauna (AU)

Turtle Camp

2012-08-15T23:15:03+00:00

I spent the last few days at “Turtle Camp” in Mapoon, Cape YorK, where I was able to learn more about the on-ground activities being conducted by the Mapoon rangers. We conducted night patrols of the beach to look for nesting flatback and olive ridley turtles. I knew I was at a different place when we jumped in a 4WD to conduct the night monitoring. Up to now, monitoring of sea turtle nesting grounds, to me, has been associated to arduous walking in soft sand. But at Flinders beach things are very different; a 22km strip of beach with the occasional crocodile: definitely asks for a different mode of transportation. During the two nights I was at the camp we had 4 flatback turtles come up and nest and an olive ridley. During the day, we conducted “predation patrol” in a quad bike to look at predation rates of nests. Unfortunately, predation of turtle eggs by feral animals (pigs, wild dogs and goannas) is a big threat to turtles in the Cape, with some areas experiencing more than 90% of egg predation. Rangers together with researchers are trying to develop different strategies to reduce predation; yearly aerial pig shooting, excluder devices and traps are some of them. But clearly presence of rangers in the beach has drastically reduced predation rates as the animals get scared away. Part of my research includes looking at the cost and benefit of each of these strategies, while considering their feasibility and community acceptability, to provide suggestions of the best set of strategies to be used. While in Mapoon I also had the opportunity to visit the local school and give a copy of my educational books to the kids.

Book launch was a success

2012-08-15T22:51:26+00:00

The recent launch of Dhyum the Dugong at the 12th International Coral Reef Symposium in Cairns was a success! The book was well accepted by the broad community and a hit with the kids. Some of the media related to the launch can be found at http://scinews.com.au/releases/679/view . The book can be downloaded at http://marianafuentes.com/docs/dhyum-the-dugong.pdf but i,f you require the book for any educational purpose please contact me.

Launch of Dhyum the Dugong

2012-07-04T06:38:52+00:00

Please join me as I launch my new educational children’s book on dugongs.

As mentioned on my previous post a key aspect of this project is to educate and build the capacity of local communities that depend on turtle and dugongs in northern Queensland and Torres Strait. To achieve this a series of activities are being undertaken, from engaging with rangers and local community members to visiting local schools. I am proud to point out that one of the products, “Dhyum the Dugong” , from this initiative will be luanched nect week during the 12th International Coral Reef Symposium in Cairns , Australia.

“Dhyum the Dugong” was written to educate children about the importance of conserving dugongs. The main character of the book, Dhyum, is based on a real animal that was satellite tagged at Mabuiag Island in 2010 and named by the local children. The book aims to educate Torres Strait children about the perils faced by dugongs and what these challenges mean to the Torres Strait communities.

If you are attending the 12th ICRS, please join me on the launch of my new educational book.

The launch will be at the 12th International Coral Reef Symposium, Cairns Convention Centre Room MR5

Wednesday, 11 July 2012 1:00pm - 1:45pm

Dhyum the dugong

2012-02-10T03:27:13+00:00

A key aspect of this project is to educate and build the capacity of local communities that depend on turtle and dugongs in northern Queensland and Torres Strait. To achieve this a series of activities are being undertaken, from engaging with rangers and local community members to visiting local schools. Right now we are developing an educational book on dugongs and the threats that they face. The book will be used by the local Tagai School and as a tool for the environmental education program conducted by the rangers. It is envisioned that the book will be finalised by the end of the year. A similar book has been written for sea turtles and can be feely downloaded at - http://marianafuentes.com/docs/fuentes_educational-book.pdf

Working together with communities in Mapoon

2011-11-25T06:44:01+00:00

I recently had the opportunity to visit Mapoon, Cape York to discuss my project with the Land and Sea Committee. The purpose of the trip was to present my project and to receive feedback on whether the community was keen to participate. A key aspect of my project is to involve all the stakeholders that currently manage the Gulf of Carpentaria and Torres Strait flatback population in all phases of the project from design to delivery so that the outcomes are of most use to those involved. The community at Mapoon saw great value in the project and are keen to be involved. So for the next two years I will be working together with the community to provide valuable information on how they can manage flatback turtles in the most cost-efficient way.

The art of being flexible when planning and conducting fieldwork…

2011-10-12T11:02:15+00:00

Anyone who has ever organized and/or conducted fieldwork knows the innumerous challenges and surprises that are inherited in the experience.

Usually, it is not until you are in the field that you encounter unexpected situations and have to adapt to these. Unfortunately, the unexpected happened to me a week before my trip to Deliverance Island (the biggest flatback nesting ground in Torres Strait). I had everything ready; the tickets the gear and was super anxious for the trip, but unfortunately the trip had to be cancelled as one of the Traditional Owners of the land passed away.

So, I used my booked tickets to visit the Torres Strait Regional Authority and the Apudthama Land and Sea unit in Thursday Island, Torres Strait and Injinoo, Cape York, respectively. The idea of the trip was to continue discussions about flatback management in the region and also progress with the development of an educational book. As part of this project I am also developing an educational kids book on dugongs, the threats that they face and what can be done to help. I am happy to say that after this visit the history line has been outlined and discussions have already started with the illustrator. Hopefully within some months we will have the first draft of the book and within the next month or so a trip to Deliverance Island will occur.

A proper introduction : flatback turtles

2011-09-27T23:28:40+00:00

It just occurred to me that on my first blog I failed to convey the importance of working with flatback turtles. So here I properly introduce flatback turtles and highlight their uniqueness among other marine turtle species.

Flatback turtles have been described as a ‘turtle of mystery’. There is probably less known about this marine turtle than any of the other six species. Indeed at an international level, flatback turtles are listed as ‘Data Deficient’ under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

Flatbacks are morphologically distinguished from other species by their low domed carapace, upturned carapace margins and softer, scutes which are covered in a fleshy skin. They have flattened olive, grey or grey-green carapace, with curved length of carapace between 75 cm and 99 cm. Flatbacks turtles lay fewer, but larger eggs and produce larger hatchlings than any of the other marine turtle species.

Photo by Brett Leis

Flatback sea turtles (Natator depressus) are reproductively endemic to the Australian continental shelf, nesting in northern and eastern Australia, with no known nesting sites outside Australia. Within Australia, the species can be subdivided into a number of genetically discrete breeding populations nesting at geographically distinct rookeries that do not freely interbreed. Six main nesting aggregations has been identified by genetic work ( 1) Eastern Australia (EA) (light blule ; 2) Gulf of Carpentaria and Torres Strait (GoC/TS) (red); 3) Northern Territory (East) (yellow) (NTE); 4) Northern Territory (West) (dark blue) (NTW); 5) East Kimberly (EK) (green) ; and 6) Western Australia (WA)(orange) ) .

Source SWOT 2009

This project deals with the Gulf of Carpentaria and Torres Strait flatback population (see above in red), which has its main nesting areas centred on Crab Island and Deliverance Island. Crab Island has the largest documented nesting concentration for the species, with an estimated 3000 turtles nesting a year (SWOT 2009). This flatback population faces a number of anthropogenic impacts, which has been poorly quantified. Thus, one of the aims of this project is to identify current and future anthropogenic threats to the Gulf of Carpentaria and Torres Strait flatback population.

Thus for the past month I have been liaising with key researchers and stakeholders that manage flatbacks in northern Australia to identify the main threats faced by flatbacks and develop a systematic framework for their management. So far, our surveys have shown that predation of eggs by feral pigs and goanas is the biggest threat to nesting areas used by this population in the mainland. At some areas in Cape York Feral pig predation of nests is high and likely greater than 90%. Earlier next month we will be undertaking a scoping trip to Deliverance Island in Torres Strait to investigate some of the main threats at this rookery.

Learning about sea turtle management

2011-08-14T07:15:34+00:00

Managing marine wildlife can be particularly challenging especially when little is known about the risks, feasibility and opportunities of implementing different management strategies. In order to tackle this I have started to survey key stakeholders in North Queensland that manage and conserve flatback turtles in the region to gain an understanding of what’s practical and realistic on ground. The surveys will gather information on 1) the efficiency of various management actions to mitigate the threats faced by flatbacks, 2) the logistical feasibility and opportunities of implementing different management actions at specific locations and 3) the cost of implementing various management actions at specific nesting grounds/ areas. This information will be compiled and used to develop a framework to help managers prioritize their decisions.