Please use the filters and search bar below to find articles that have been published in SWOT Report. All past SWOT Report articles are also available as PDFs in the SWOT Report section of this site.
Akumal, a small town about 100 kilometers south of the well-known tourism mecca of Cancún, was the first tourist destination in Quintana Roo, and tourists flock to Akumal by the tens of thousands annually. As a result, local sea turtle populations and marine ecosystems are now threatened by the impacts of too much visitation.
Read MoreGreen turtles provided a vital source of protein for settlers who arrived in the Cayman Islands more than 300 years ago. For centuries, green turtles were harvested directly from their natural habitats, but the unregulated and unsustainable harvest ultimately led to a dramatic decline in Cayman turtles in modern times. Many other nations that experienced similar declines chose to prohibit the consumption of green turtles, keeping in line with international legislation. The Cayman Islands took a different path and, in 1968, decided to turn to the commercial production of green turtles.
Read MoreSWOT has grown in leaps and bounds since the publication of SWOT Report Volume 1 in 2006. Now that we have seen how far SWOT has come, what might the next 10 years hold?
Read MoreIn an attempt to harness Central Americans’ soccer passion for conservation purposes, a group of sea turtle researchers developed the Hawksbill Cup as a tool to shift the way coastal residents view hawksbills.
Read MoreSea turtles, like all other organisms in the natural world, carry invisible records of their biological history. Researchers simply need to know where and how to look for these records. Stable isotopes are among a growing number of intrinsic markers biologists use to extract information about organisms’ environments without having to observe their actions directly.
Read MoreCoastal gillnet fisheries are some of the most common fisheries throughout the world, and they play an important role in the food security, economics, and culture of coastal communities. Yet gillnet fisheries are often problematic because of their nonselective impact on the marine environment; they incidentally capture many nontarget species.
Read MoreThe very word innovation excites some people and simultaneously imparts fear of the unknown in others. Throughout history, innovators have constantly been met with resistance, but those who innovate ultimately achieve success far beyond the dreams of others, and they set the stage for worldwide changes. Innovation is the future, and without it our lives would not be what they are today. The same is true for sea turtle conservation.
Read MoreGreen turtles are among the most iconic species in the Hawaiian Islands, and they have been the subject of scientific study for more than four decades. Extensive research on the Hawaiian green turtle population has enabled us to observe changes in Hawaiian green turtle nesting distribution that may suggest the foundation of a new, distinct nesting population, thus offering a unique learning opportunity.
Read MoreBefore 2000, there had been only a single published account of sea turtle nesting in Peru. The prevailing notion was that Peru is too far south—too cold—for successful sea turtle nesting. Thanks to the efforts of ecOceanica, we now know that nesting seems to be on the rise along Peru’s coast.
Read MoreOn St. Catherines Island, Georgia (U.S.A.), three geologists involved in sea turtle conservation—have been documenting the deterioration of sea turtle nesting habitat caused by sea-level rise since 1998. The extreme shoreline changes on St. Catherines Island produce difficult conditions for nesting loggerhead sea turtles and challenge conservation efforts; however, these conditions also create an opportunity to develop, evaluate, and optimize conservation methods on this sentinel island.
Read More
