Plattsburgh, NY
Species of many of the valuable plants and animals are dying out every year and we are responsible for it. Many of marine creatures are now on the verge of extinction because they have been hunted by man for their selfish purposes. Green turtles are one of the species that is listed as an endangered species by IUCN. In this week’s blog post I’m going to talk to you about a study done on Green Turtles by the researchers of US Geological survey. According to their two year research, they were trying to see whether the marine protected areas of the Dry Tortugas National Park in the Gulf of Mexico are actually providing these turtles homes during the breeding period. They have tagged 11 breeding females of Green sea turtles and studied their movement through satellite telemetry. Their results have shown that 9 out of 11 females stayed within the Marine protected areas during the breeding season without migrating. Only 2 female turtles migrated out of the marine protected area zone. After tracking their movements and analyzing their time at sea, the team has located the areas turtles used between their nesting events and determined where turtles traveled after the nesting season was over. They have also found that the turtles most commonly used shallow seagrass beds and degraded coral reefs that have been overgrown by a mixed assemblage of other organisms, such as sea fans, sponges, and fire coral. The team learned about the turtle's habitat needs during the nesting season by using an underwater camera system. Researchers surveyed the areas frequented by turtles within Dry Tortugas National Park by photographing the seafloor. According to the research, this was only the second published study showing green turtles taking up residence at feeding grounds located quite near their breeding grounds. Knowing their breeding patterns and habitat use, marine biologists can take necessary actions to increase these Green Sea turtle populations. Sad but true, that we humans are the biggest enemies of the nature that surrounds us. We with our actions are destroying the mother earth.
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| Image by: Brocken Inaglory |
Their Published work can be accessed from here http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2013.03.019
References
- Habitat use of breeding green turtles Chelonia mydas tagged in Dry Tortugas National Park: Making use of local and regional MPAs, Kristen M. Hart, David G. Zawada, Ikuko Fujisaki, Barbara H. Lidz (doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2013.03.019)
I am a Biology graduate from SUNY Plattsburgh, NY. I was employed at Lake Champlain Research Institute, Plattsburgh, NY during 2011-2013. There, I studied, longterm trends of zooplankton in Lake Champlain. One day, I hope to utilize my skills and experience towards a conservation of aquatic biology and make a worthy contribution to the science.
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