A New App Aids African Turtle Researchers
A New App Aids African Turtle Researchers

Marine megafauna, such as sea turtles and manatees, provide valuable ecosystem services, and the absence of those creatures in an ecological community can lead to severe imbalance. Up to the minute data on megafauna presence and abundance are often hard to acquire. To confront that challenge, in 2015 the African Marine Mammal Conservation Organization (AMMCO)—a Cameroon-based nongovernmental organization—created the first mobile phone application, SIREN, dedicated specifically to marine megafauna data collection in West Africa.

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SWOT Report vol. 12Brian HutchinsonAfrica
How Turtles Affect Beaches
How Turtles Affect Beaches

People living on temperate shores are familiar with phenomena such as the salmon run, in which entire ecosystems emerge from winter hibernation, starving for nutrition and desperately waiting for the salmon to arrive. Sea turtle nesting is no different; it creates a massive nutrient pulse into otherwise nutrient-poor beach ecosystems.

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SWOT Report vol. 12Brian HutchinsonAfrica, Global
Urbanization Chips Away Turtle Habitats in West-Central Africa
Urbanization Chips Away Turtle Habitats in West-Central Africa

One of the most insidious threats to sea turtles in West-Central Africa is the impact of coastal development. Two coastal towns that illustrate this phenomenon well are the megacities of Lagos, Nigeria, and Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo. More adult sea turtles and nests have been lost to direct take as urban expansion and coastal settlement in those cities have brought increased light, ocean pollution and vessel traffic.

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SWOT Report vol. 12Brian HutchinsonAfrica, Coastal Development, Atlantic Ocean, Direct Take
Trapped in the Crossroads of Honu Conservation
Trapped in the Crossroads of Honu Conservation

It is no secret that the Hawaiian green turtle population is recovering. The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List classified the population as “least concern” in 2012, and the 2015 Endangered Species Act global status review concluded that Hawaii’s population of approximately 4,000 nesting females per year was increasing at a rate of 5.4 percent annually. The success of the Hawaiian green turtle, however, means that local human communities now face some new and unexpected challenges.

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SWOT Report vol. 12Brian HutchinsonGreen turtle, North America, Pacific Ocean, Coastal Development
The Benefits and Costs of Satellite Tracking

The invention of small, durable, low-cost satellite transmitters in the 1980s enabled scientists to accurately track the movements of sea turtles worldwide. Since then, the use of satellite transmitters has proliferated, and they generate data that have revolutionized our understanding of sea turtle ecology and played a vital role in conservation efforts. We have reaped many benefits from using satellite transmitters; however, their potentially detrimental effects often remain overlooked.

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SWOT Report vol. 12Brian HutchinsonGlobal
A Dam Disaster in Brazil and Its Impacts on Distant Sea Turtle Beaches
A Dam Disaster in Brazil and Its Impacts on Distant Sea Turtle Beaches

The recent collapse of a tailings dam at a Samarco ore mine in the municipality of Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil, is now being called the worst environmental disaster in the country’s history. In the state of Espírito Santo at the mouth of the Rio Doce, pollutants ultimately despoiled globally important leatherback and loggerhead nesting beaches.

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SWOT Report vol. 12Brian HutchinsonAtlantic Ocean, South America, Pollution and Pathogens
Tortoiseshell: Too Rare to Wear
Tortoiseshell: Too Rare to Wear

Hawksbill shell, commonly called tortoiseshell, has been a precious commodity for centuries, and countless millions of turtles have been killed to supply craft markets along trade routes spanning the globe. Too Rare To Wear is a newly formed coalition of more than 40 conservation and tourism groups that is tackling the issue of hawksbill shell sales to tourists in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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SWOT Report vol. 12Brian HutchinsonHawksbill, Direct Take, Caribbean Sea & Gulf of Mexico