Wilna's having a rough few days...

With the South East wind really kicking in this last week has been a rough one for Wilna the hawksbill turtle, tagged by MCSS with a satellite tag in December 2009. She had just nested on the South of Mahé when she was fitted with the tag which was a notable experience for the team as this was to be their first nigh-time tagging session (hawksbill turtles generally nest during day-light hours in Seychelles).

The MCSS team fitting Wilna’s tag in the dark, photo Betty Cecile.

Despite the challenge of working in the dark the team successfully deployed the tag which tracked her progress away from her nesting beaches as she headed North East to her foraging ground some 100km from Mahé.

Ever since December, Wilna’s tag has been transmitting daily updates about her position and diving habits until this week when her tag fell silent for two days. After the first day we thought that maybe there was a glitch with the data upload but by the second day we were worried that something had happened to Wilna as the tag’s battery should last for many more months and on checking with the satellite receiver system no messages had been received…

However, on the third day we had a confirmatory signal from the satellite system that Wilna’s tag is still functioning and she is still on her foraging grounds!

Wilna's position on the NE of the Seychelles Plateau

As these tags are very small and hawksbill turtles are fairly small animals, the tag is always very close to the water even when the turtle is resting on the surface. We suspect that with the rough sea conditions over the last few days the tag has simply not been able to transmit as even when the turtle is breathing it was likely to be too rough, keeping the tag semi-submerge all the time.

The satellite tag is very small and easily submerged in rough conditions, photo Elke Talma

So all is well… we just hope that Wilna isn’t getting too sea-sick…

Do turtles get sea-sick?

New Guy On The Block

As Elke settles in to her new life on the island of Desroches so MCSS prepares to welcome her replacement as far as the turtle monitoring side of things at least… although small in stature she was a big act to follow and her replacement, Devis Monthy, may be just the guy to do that!

Devis with one of Aldabra's older residents!

Devis hails from our prime turtle area on the South of Mahe, from Anse Gaulette, Baie Lazare and so is more than familiar with the area. He is also more than familiar with turtles having worked on Aldabra first as a volunteer in 2005 and then as a boatman and ranger from 2006 – 2008 where he tagged a great many green turtles as a part of his routine monitoring duties. He is also experienced in the many routine monitoring duties on the atoll including terrestrial monitoring, which will doubtless be of use for the beach vegetation monitoring.

Devis rounding up a whole bucket full of straggling turtle hatchlings for re-direction towards the sea

Devis most recently assisted on the aerial survey of cetaceans and marine megafauna in the Western Indian Ocean, a marine mammal project implemented by the University of La Rochelle in France.

Devis starts at the beginning of August and may have already met some of the monitoring team during a familiarisation visit with Elke at the end of last month, so do keep an eye open for him and say ‘Hi’ if you see him on the beaches in the coming weeks… it will take a while for him to get to know everyone!

Elke’s last blog

After more than 7 years of working with MCSS, 6 of which were dedicated to turtles, it is time to move on...to chase other turtles on Desroches!!!

This being my last MCSS blog, I am at a loss about what to say.

When David first suggested blogging, I was not impressed; in fact I thought it was the stupidest idea ever! I was already editing and publishing 3 newsletters for MCSS and now he wanted me to write a @*#$%£^ diary!

My first blog hinted at my feelings, but gradually I got into the swing of things and now I live for my blogs. In fact, I have discovered that not only do I like to hear myself talk; I also like to read what I write….repeatedly!!!

The MCSS Turtle blog was launched in September 2008, a month after the MCSS Whale Shark blog. After a few weeks David set up a counter for hits to our sites and being a little competitive by nature, I now had a reason to blog... I was going to out-blog the whale sharks!!!

Unfortunately, I failed!!!

The Turtle site lags behind by about 700 hits, however, my turtle loving pals and I have managed to write a total of 120 blogs compared to a measly 91 on the Whale Shark blog, proving that turtles still RULE!!!

I would like to thank everyone who has consistently read my blogs, especially those who volunteered to submit their own turtle blogs to the site... with any luck we have managed to convince a few people that turtles are important and should be protected.

Turtles of Mahé can breathe a sigh of relief as Elke leaves to “torture” turtles on Desroches, photo Ismael Mahmutoglu

Happy turtle “hunting” to you all.

MCSS wish Elke all the best with her move onto Seychelles outer islands... we have tried to warn the turtles what's about to happen!! The MCSS Turtle monitoring blog will continue with Elke's replacement and we hope Elke can send the odd message in a bottle for us to post...

Life-cycle of a Turtle

The SWOT website has been updated and includes an interactive diagram about the life cycle of sea turtles.

You can explore this interactive diagram and learn all about the life of a turtle by visiting here

SWOT issue V

The fifth issue of the SWOT Report was launched at the 30th Annual Sea Turtle Symposium in Goa, India. This volume puts the spotlight on Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) turtles, with a 9-page special feature about these mysterious animals, including a comprehensive map of their global biogeography and an article focused on the “riddle of the ridley.”

As always, SWOT Report, Vol. V also features a variety of interesting stories from throughout the sea turtle research and conservation community.

To download your copy of the report visit the SWOT website.

Global Warming and Turtles

The effects of global warming/climate change will most likely have enormous impacts on turtles and other wildlife, mainly because the rate at which the climate is changing far exceeds the abilities of animals to adapt naturally to such dramatic environmental changes. In fact, scientists predict that many species will go extinct as a result of climate change.

With regards to turtles, a number of key climate change impacts have been identified:

Loss of nesting beaches: Sea level rise from the melting of polar ice is already contributing to the loss of beach and turtle nesting habitat. Weather extremes, also linked to climate change, mean more frequent and severe storms which alter nesting beaches, cause beach erosion, and inundate or flood turtle nests.

Seasonal beach erosion becoming more pronounced each year, photo Elke Talma

Reduced hatchling survival rates: Hotter sand from increasing temperatures results in decreased hatching rates or complete nest failure.

Month old turtle embryo dies in nests, photo Elke Talma

Imbalance in sex ratios: Increased sand temperatures will affect hatchlings by altering natural sex ratios, with hotter temperatures producing more female hatchlings.

Turtles gather at breeding sites and fight for mates, photo unknown

Change in their geographic distribution: Turtles use ocean currents to travel and find prey. Warming ocean temperatures influence migratory species by altering currents and impacting the distribution and abundance of prey species. This can result in southerly species being found in more northerly regions, well outside of their normal range.

Young leatherback hatchling at the mercy of the current, photo unknown

Loss of foraging grounds: Warmer water temperatures affect coral reefs through coral bleaching which are vital to the survival of species like the hawksbill.

Hawksbill turtle feeding on sponges, photo Pierre Andre Adam

While nothing can be done to stop changes in current flow, we can do our utmost to mitigate impacts to our coastline by making sure there is adequate beach vegetation to minimise sand erosion thus protecting the nesting platform and maximise shade cover to provide cool areas under vegetation to maximise or maintain egg survival rates as temperatures rise. This can be further enhanced through controlled coastal development. On a personal level, everyone should try to reduce their carbon footprint.

One big happy family!

I have been working on my family tree and it turns out I am related to Gilberte Gendron and Marcel Mathiot .

Gilberte is my 6th cousin and with the rampant inbreeding in Seychelles (particularly on La Digue) in the 1800’s, it turns out that I am not only related to her through her mother (my 5th cousin, once removed) but also her father (my 6th cousin) - although they themselves are only indirectly related by an ancestral marriage…much to Gilberte’s relief!

As for Marcel, well he is my 3rd Cousin 3 times removed, which means I am now also indirectly related to Patricia and through them, to their 4 year old grand-daughter, Lucy...a budding turtle fanatic!

This means there are now at least 7 turtle fanatics (including by parents) in the family!

On the down side, many of our common ancestors come from La Digue, so I am a little concerned about the turtle killers (legal or otherwise) lurking in our midst!