THE MYSTERY behind the Hawksbill turtle migration in the South Pacific will soon be exposed following the launching of the first ever comprehensive turtle tagging programme at the Arnavon Conservation site.
The Nature Conservancy Melanesia Programme Director, Richard Hamilton said data collected from the project will be some of the first information on whether the current Arnavon boundaries are sufficient to protect nesting turtles and where Arnavon turtles migrate to in between nesting years.
He explained that the Nature Conservancy’s Scientist will track the tagged turtles, whenever they come to the surface using a GPS signal.
Mr Hamilton added that the GPS fixed will upload information that will assist scientists to map and analyse the turtles’ movements, getting a better picture of their nesting, migration and feeding behaviours.
He said the device will fall off the turtles after about a year.
He stressed that turtle tagging has been done before, however a comprehensive turtle tagging programme has never been done at the Arnavons.
“Existing information suggests that turtles swim to foraging grounds on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and Papua New Guinea, but this data comes from a mere five turtles, only two of which were satellite tracked showing the exact migration routes,” he said.
Mr Hamilton said hawksbill turtles are at 10% of their numbers a century ago, with roughly only one out of every 1,000 turtle eggs making it to adulthood.
He said hawksbills are known for their longest intermigration period in the world, covering approximately 1,800 kilometers per month.
“If one of the turtles go back to somewhere like the Great Barrier Reef, she might travel as far as 1,800 kilometers in a month.
“For comparison, hawksbills that nested in Hawaii travel only ~200 kilometers between nesting and foraging areas,” Mr Hamilton explain.
He said recommendations from the study will help change policy, inclusive community-based management and long-term commitment that would turn the tide for one of the most charismatic and endangered species on the planet.
He adds that the new study will help the Conservancy and Community partners protect turtles throughout their lifespans and offers hope as World Sea Turtle Day is celebrated on June 16.
He said the Arnavons is the largest hawksbill sea turtle rookery in the South Pacific and a crucial breeding ground for this critically endangered species.
Meanwhile, Hamilton said hawksbill turtle are living in high risk in the Solomon Islands as many people depend on natural resources for livelihood.
He emphasized that inclusive participation will pave a way forward to better conserve the endangered turtle species.
He adds that effective awareness on educating people to have traditional ownership of the resources and the conservation programme is paramount.
Environment Coordinator of Isabel province, John Pita said the outcome of the project will clear the air on the progress of Arnavon in terms of safe-guiding hawksbill turtles.
He stressed that the research will help Arnavon and its partner to answer longstanding questions on migration between feeding and nesting habitat.
“It’s going to be a very exciting future for these turtles, because there are so many questions that we don’t answer,” Mr Pita said.
Like many other sea turtle species, hawksbills are critically endangered.
Worldwide populations have declined to about 80 percent in the past three turtle generations due to the illegal turtle shell trade, egg collection, harvesting for meat, bycatch in tuna fisheries, and habitat loss from beach development and climate change.
The establishment of Arnavon Community Marine Conservation Area with the help of The Nature Conservancy and the Government in 1995 has boosted efforts to preserve the endangered turtle species.
As of 2012, an estimated 400 to 600 hawksbills nested at Arnavon annually, migrating thousands of kilometers back to their natal beach.
These hawksbills nest only once every seven years on average, so the total Arnavon’s nesting population is between 2,000 and 4,000 turtles.
Those numbers are a fraction of the tens of thousands of turtles that nested here before the shell trade nearly eliminated the species entirely, yet it’s still an encouraging trend.
Data collected by ACMCA conservation officers shows the number of nests in the Arnavons has more than doubled in the two decades since the establishment of the protected area.
Females in this population nest once every seven years on average, spending just a few months in the protected area before returning to their distant foraging grounds.
Once out of the Arnavons the females are on their own — and scientists are not entirely sure where they go.
According to The Nature Conservancy, protecting the Arnavons has proved not enough as to the number of turtles that died in the hand of poachers.
Two of the tagged turtles were poached shortly after their tags were installed — a sobering reminder of the dangers that sea turtles face every day.
Currently The Conservancy is using this incident to continue discussions with local communities about turtle conservation and the value of protecting turtles.
It also shows there is an obvious need for more support for patrols to help enforcement.
The Conservancy is already developing a plan to address this issue.
Arnavon Community Marine Conservation Area (ACMCA) and its partners believe the tagging program will help solve some of the issue.
Arnavon Community Marine Conservation Area (ACMCA) is managed by communities of Kia, Katupika and Wagina.
Arnavon Community Marine Conservation Area (ACMCA) has created the largest and first community-managed marine protected area in the country.
The post Mystery of Hawksbill turtle migration to be exposed soon appeared first on Islandsun Daily News.