| Project: |
Satellite Tracking of Nesting Hawksbill Turtles - Seychelles |
| Country: |
Seychelles |
| Organisation / Address: |
Marine Conservation Society, Seychelles,
PO Box 1299
Victoria,
Seychelles |
| Telephone: |
+248 261511 |
| Fax: |
+248 261511 |
| E-mail address: |
info@mcss.sc |
| Alternate email address: |
|
| Web site address: |
www.mcss.sc |
| Location(s) of main activity: |
Mahe, Seychelles |
| Project Summary: |
Barclays Bank of Seychelles is supporting an innovative programme being implemented by the Marine Conservation Society of Seychelles (MCSS) in association with the Ministry of Environment and the Wildlife Clubs of Seychelles.
To date there is no information on the movement patterns of the nesting turtle populations on the developed islands of Seychelles, nor where they go to forage between nesting seasons. With the support of Barclays Bank, two turtles nesting on the beaches on the South of Mahe will be fitted with satellite tracking tags that will record their movement patterns and diving habits over the course of three months.
The locations of the turtles will also be put to good use as an awareness tool through the sharing of daily location data to teachers at local schools via the Wildlife Clubs and through the internet via the facilities of www.seaturtle.org. The seaturtle.org Satellite Tracking Program provides a unique opportunity to engage students in a fun and exciting way. Satellite tracking can be used to develop lesson plans covering number of subject areas, including biology, maths and geography and can be the focus of a number of specific projects for special interest groups such as the Wildlife Clubs.
MCSS will make the data available through the seaturtle.org portal and to ensure that as many local children as possible can participate, Barclays Bank are providing two computers to the Wildlife Clubs which will be available at the Centre for Environment and Education (Nature Seychelles), Roche Caiman. This is the first time that this sort of high-tech co-operative educational project has been tried in Seychelles and it is hoped that the teachers will use this opportunity to motivate youngsters to the needs of Seychelles marine turtles.
Barclays Bank and MCSS will also sponsor several competitions to help publicise the project and raise awareness to turtle conservation over the coming months.
The hawksbill turtles will be fitted with MK10AF satellite tags that, besides recording the location of the turtles, will also provide data about their diving habits. This information is transmitted to the orbiting NOAA satellites and relayed through the ARGOS platform system, resulting in a daily e-mail from the turtles with their latest data.
The project will provide vital information about nesting hawksbill turtle movements and behaviour that may further enhance the recovery of the nesting populations on the developed islands and promote the continued survival of hawksbill turtles for generations of Seychellois to come. |
| Project Started: |
December 2007 |
| Project Ended: |
|
| Reports / Information material: |
Torti de Mer, the quarterly newsletter on MCSS turtle conservation projects and other turtle projects in Seychelles, published by MCSS.
Marine Conservation News, the biannual newsletter on MCSS conservation projects and other marine projects in Seychelles, published by MCSS. |
| Planned activities: |
School turtle tracking projects and competition; School art competition and public display of entries; Design of the new Barclays calendar featuring the winning art entries; MSc thesis submission on the data from this project; On-going provision of data to the Ministry of Environment. |
| Collaborators: |
Barclays Bank of Seychelles; MENR; Xanadu Hotel; Simpsons Strong-tie Epoxy; Underwater Centre; SeaTurtle.org; Wildlife Clubs of Seychelles; Steven & Chantal Esparon; David Deny; Terry Rachel; Gilberte Gendron, Susanne Ranft and Jochen Gronau |
| Budget available: |
|
| Current Sponsors: |
Barclays Bank of Seychelles; Banyan Tree Green Imperative Fund; Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MENR); Xanadu Hotel; Simpsons Strong-tie Epoxy; Underwater Centre; SeaTurtle.org and Wildlife Clubs of Seychelles |
| Past Sponsors: |
N/A |
| Information contributed by: |
Elke Talma and David Rowat, MCSS |
| Info last updated: |
21 March 2008 |
| Other: |
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| Additional text/image: |
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