With the start of the first sea turtle festival in Pulau Banyak, Indonesia, on the 14th of June 2010, a green turtle (Chelonia mydas) was tagged for the first time with a satellite transmitter in order to track its migration route after nesting in Pulau Bangkaru. More »
From 17-30 July 2010, the Association for the Social-Economic Development of Itsamia (ADSEI), based in Comoros, hosted an international mission whose objective was to study the mechanisms by which green turtles orient themselves.
Itsamia was chosen for the site of this project due to the number of green turtles that come to reproduce on the beaches of the eastern point of this, the smallest island, of the Comoros Archipelago. More »
FROM THE SECRETARIAT
We begin this month by thanking Dr George Hughes for agreeing to report on his recent expedition to Europa and Juan de Nova in the South West Indian Ocean, joining French colleagues from La Réunion. See the Profile of the Month for September. At times light-hearted, at times serious, George’s account of his 24-day adventure is ample proof that full “retirement” is definitely something to strive for in life, as soon as possible.
August seems to have had its fair share of unusual headlines from the turtle world. Interspersed among mundane stories about coral bleaching, turtles entering or leaving rehab, and eggs being sold illegally in Malaysia were stories about: a two-headed turtle born in Thailand, a four-year old blind green turtle rescued in Malaysia, and tanks (of the military type) being dumped in the Gulf of Thailand for the purpose of creating an artificial reef.
More seriously, there was also a report from the Philippines about rare judicial action taken against 13 Vietnamese poachers apprehended in 2008; and a report from Japan about the unusual nesting of a loggerhead turtle near a huge industrial complex.
Observant followers of the website will have read details of a consultancy tendered in August for a ‘Review of IOSEA Implementation in Countries of the BOBLME (Northern Indian Ocean) sub-region’. Applications are currently under review, in anticipation of the project starting in the coming weeks.
Last, but not least, we would like to acknowledge with great appreciation a voluntary contribution received in recent weeks from the United States’ Department of State in support of IOSEA operations; and a separate contribution from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s Marine Turtle Conservation Fund, which will go towards the organisation of the Sixth Meeting of the IOSEA Signatory States in 2011… if only a willing host Government can be identified. Any takers?
MONTHLY ROUND-UP: What you may have missed in August
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With the start of the first sea turtle festival in Pulau Banyak, Indonesia, on the 14th of June 2010, a green turtle (Chelonia mydas) was tagged for the first time with a satellite transmitter in order to track its migration route after nesting in Pulau Bangkaru. 
From 17-30 July 2010, the Association for the Social-Economic Development of Itsamia (ADSEI), based in Comoros, hosted an international mission whose objective was to study the mechanisms by which green turtles orient themselves. 
