By Rhishja Larson •
August 5, 2009
More than 4,000 Loggerhead turtle hatchlings made their way safely into the sea, thanks to the help of hardworking volunteers.
A dedicated team of about 70 Sunshine Coast volunteers are celebrating a wonderful outcome of the turtle nesting season: 4,000 Loggerhead hatchlings (Caretta caretta) have survived the treacherous journey from their nests into the sea.
Turtle Care Sunshine Coast and Coolum Coast Care help ensure hatching survival [...]
By Rhishja Larson •
July 26, 2009
Researchers in Brunei are studying the migration route and nesting habitat of Olive Ridley Turtles by monitoring the satellite transmitter of a recently-released female turtle.
Earlier this month, a female Olive Ridley Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), fitted with a satellite transmitter, was released from Meragang Beach as part of a Southeast Asia Fisheries Development Centre (SEAFDEC) project.
The ability to track this turtle will help locate breeding and nesting grounds, so that conservationists can manage and protect these sensitive sites. By checking daily transmissions, researchers can determine the turtle’s route.
Attaching the transmitter to the turtle’s shell was done with a special glue and then covered with fiberglass, a common method used by researchers to track long-range migration habits of sea turtles.
The extraordinary nesting behavior of the Olive Ridley Turtle
Female Olive Ridley Turtles are responsible for one of the most unusual occurrences found in nature. In a phenomenon known as arribada (”arrival by sea”), it begins when groups of females congregate in the water near nesting sites.
By Rhishja Larson •
July 23, 2009
For over 20 years, dedicated rangers have been caring for the protected zone off Jakarta’s north coast. They spend three weeks of each month without Internet access or electricity on the uninhabited islet of Penjaliran Timur - where they monitor critically endangered Hawksbill Turtle nests.
Penjaliran Timur is part of Penjaliran’s restricted zone - and home to the critically endangered Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), whose favorite nesting grounds include the beaches of Peteloran Timur and Peteloran Barat (also uninhabited and in the restricted zone).
Using a wooden paddle boat, an important part of the rangers’ daily routine is to travel the relatively short distance from Penjaliran Timur to the nesting areas in order to collect newly laid Hawksbill Turtle eggs. The precious eggs are brought back to Penjaliran Timur, where the rangers carefully bury them in the sand near the guard post, to keep them safe from poachers.
But despite daily heroic efforts, the rangers are not always successful at rescuing the Hawksbill Turtle eggs: Although they can spot the poachers through binoculars from Penjaliran Timur, by the time they reach the nesting grounds via wooden paddle boat, the poachers are long gone - using speedboats.
By Andrew Williams •
March 10, 2009
Portuguese environmentalists have condemned the killing of the country’s last remaining nesting male Iberian Imperial Eagle.
The bird, also known as the Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti), is one of the three rarest birds of prey on the planet, with only around 400 surviving, and is classified as ‘vulnerable to extinction’ in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
