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When you look at a typical global map of nesting sites for any sea turtle species—such as the maps in previous SWOT Reports—what you see is a lot of dots. Before a dot can be plotted, researchers first toil long days and nights on the beach, recording nests or nesting females and then contribute their hard-won data to SWOT’s database.
Read MoreMoney alone does not make conservation happen, but it is a necessary ingredient, and acquiring it can be one of our greatest challenges as conservationists.
Read MoreAdvances in computing power, simulation modeling software, remotely sensed data for ocean currents, sea surface temperatures, and other conditions, and new data on sea turtle biology are giving rise to a new generation of problem-solving tools for sea turtle research and conservation.
Read MoreHumans are social animals. Our attitudes and behaviors are guided by others in our societies through the competition of selfish interests, taboos, tacit rules, formal law, policing, and the degree to which we submit to governance. What follows is an examination of how these controls on human behavior can change through persuasive efforts.
Read MoreDespite the collateral damage they do, Peruvian small-scale fisheries form the backbone of Peru’s fishing sector and are the main source of income for more than 200,000 coastal families. Enter ProDelphinus, a Peruvian not-for-profit organization that is using real-time, two-way radio communication with fishermen at sea to help reduce the incidental capture of marine fauna and to promote long-term fishery sustainability.
Read MoreBecause nesting female turtles—and their hatchlings—are so readily available to humans for study, they have been the focus of monitoring and conservation projects worldwide for decades. But with virtually no information about males, our understanding of how sea turtle populations really work is severely limited. Here’s where the sea turtle detectives come in.
Read MoreSea turtles do not recognize political boundaries, nor do they have regard for Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs), cooperative agreements, international conventions, or memoranda of understanding between countries. In the Southwest Indian Ocean, these elements come into play in ways that drastically affect the lives of important green and loggerhead sea turtle populations.
Read MoreLike most sea turtle monitoring projects around the world, sea turtle work in Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula has focused on nesting beach surveillance since the end of the 1970s and has paid very little attention to the basic in-water biology and ecology of sea turtles. Today, new satellite telemetry research is revealing new insights about the migration and foraging patterns of turtles.
Read MoreIn the Pacific Ocean, leatherback turtles routinely make epic journeys of tens of thousands of miles between tropical breeding areas and frigid-water feeding areas. A newly completed, multiyear satellite tracking study provides the best picture yet of the jaw-dropping migratory abilities of these animals.
Read MoreThreats to the oceans are also particularly threatening to the way of life for Pacific Islanders; indeed, the changes jeopardize the very existence of some Pacific Island nations. Addressing the extensive threats to the health of the Pacific Ocean and of those who depend upon it most directly requires immediate, collective, and concerted action at a large scale.
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