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For the first time in its 12-year history, Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire (STCB) has equipped an adult female hawksbill turtle with a satellite transmitter. Last Saturday night the turtle visited one of the beaches on Klein Bonaire to lay its eggs. STCB researchers attached the small transmitter onto the shell of the turtle.
Because the breeding season is coming to a close, this hawksbill will probably depart soon and swim to her feeding grounds elsewhere. There she will recover from the energy expended of laying several nests with hundreds of eggs and not feeding at all during that time. Where those feeding grounds are located is yet unknown, but this will soon change because the transmitter allows the STCB researchers to follow the turtle's movement in detail.
Marine turtles have existed for over 20 million years and are now threatened with extinction worldwide. To effectively protect these turtles, it is important to protect the species throughout all their habitats, according to the STCB. This means that both those areas used for breeding as well as the feeding grounds need to be known and protected. In some cases these habitats may lie thousands of kilometers apart. Effective sea turtle protection therefore requires a regional approach.
For the STCB and the Bonaire National Marine Park (BNMP) it is very important to learn which countries are involved in order to effectively work together with those countries to save our sea turtles.
The satellite tracking system provides the STCB with daily updates of the location of this hawksbill turtle. Whenever the turtle surfaces to breathe, the transmitter sends a signal that can be picked up by a satellite. The satellite system then sends the turtle's coordinates to STCB via Internet. So far, the signals received have been very clear. It is expected that this hawksbill will return to Klein Bonaire in two to three years time, when she will resume her nesting activity. The transmitter, if it is still attached, can then be removed and reused. This project has been made possible through private sponsoring.
For further information please contact STCB Project Director Dr. Robert van Dam 790-0433 or 717- 2225 or STCB@bonaireturtles.org. Imre Esser
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