WWF Education for Nature
The Wild Things
Take Action
Travel
Adopt a Zebra
Guardian Gifts
Support WWF
|
 |
Coastal East Africa > Update
Sea Turtle Tagging in Kenya
August 19, 2008
Turtle Mwanabule is escorted back to the Indian Ocean by WWF and KWS staff after a successful satellite tagging; Mwanabule Beach; Kiunga-Kenya.
© WWF-EARPO / Kimunya Mugo
See a Turtle Tagging Slideshow
BACKGROUND
The Lamu Archipelago is one of the most important marine turtle nesting grounds in Kenya. Five of the seven sea turtle species that range in the Western Indian Ocean are found within the Lamu Seascape. Three among these species - Green turtle (Chelonia mydas), Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and Olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) nest and the other two - Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and Leatherback (Dermochelys choriacea) have been reported to feed within the Lamu Archipelago. The main areas of concentration are Kiunga, Manda Island and Shela. Over the years, WWF has mobilized the communities to protect the marine turtles both at sea and on the beaches.
WWF, in partnership with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has been running a successful conservation and development project in Kiunga Marine National Reserve (KMNR). Among the key components of the project is species protection, under which the green turtle is a flagship species. The goal of this project is to improve effective conservation and management practices through improved scientific knowledge of the ecology of sea turtles in Kenya; and identify and monitor turtle routes, foraging grounds and geographic threats by fitting satellite transmitters onto selected marine turtles to gain information on migratory patterns and identify inter-nesting habitats - behavior that is key for conservation action.
The main threats endangering turtles in the Lamu Archipelago are:
- By-catch by local fishermen as well as semi¬-industrial fisheries
- Poaching of turtle meat and eggs
- Marine pollution
- Disturbance from new tourism developments
- Targeted catching (turtling culture) by coastal communities
- International trade in turtle products
- Alteration and destruction of nesting beaches and habitats
- Naturally slow rate of recovery of various populations under different levels of exploitation and stress.
To strengthen on-going efforts in community based protection of turtle nests and their habitats, the Kenya Integrated Sea Turtle Conservation (KIST-Con) Program was established to provide relevant ecological information on turtles in the area. The following progress has been made in implementing each of the program objectives:
- Objective 1: Improve management and conservation of natural resources along the Kenyan Coast through strategic use of scientific monitoring.
- KiwiSAT 101 PTTs (platform transmitter terminals) have been secured and are ready for installation.
- It is expected that information on the turtle foraging grounds, inter-nesting habitats, nesting colonies will be gathered following the launch.
- Various Thematic maps of turtles and their nesting beaches were developed and shared with the District Environment Committee (DEC) to enable informed decision making in accepting or rejecting any proposed new developments within KMNR catchments with potential effects on these biologically valuable areas. It is mandatory for all types of development to be cleared by the DEC under the Environment Management and Co-ordination Act of 1999.
- The geo-referenced database continues to be updated in the current turtle nesting period. Turtle team members patrolled all KMNR turtle nesting beaches. Night patrol teams managed to tag eleven nesting females over the six month reporting period. Volunteers also conducted day patrols to monitor, verify and protect nests. One hundred and seventy four (174) nests were reported with 57% of the total reported by community members. Over eight thousand (8000) hatchlings emerged and successfully swam to the sea during this period. Seven (7) sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) tagged in previous years ranging from 2001 to 2005 returned to nest in 2008. Twenty six (26) mortalities were reported and the main cause of death was incidental catch by gill nets. Mortality due to diseases – Fibropapilloma increased during this reporting period. GIS maps of turtle nesting beaches and foraging grounds have been developed.
- Data on turtle diseases continues to be collected though not conclusive at the moment. Climate change studies have been conducted in KMNR and the results are due by December along with reports from other MPAs within the Lamu Archipelago where similar studies have been conducted.
TRAINING/TAGGING
- July 26, 2008: Training of key staff and community on satellite tagging.
- August 7, 2008 - Training went well and two tags were launched (Frances and Mwanabule).
- August 11, 2008 - The official launch of the sea turtle satellite radio telemetry program in Kiunga with the US Ambassador Michael Ranneberger with three more out (Elizabeth, Mark, and Fatma). The Ambassador named two turtles “Elizabeth” and “Mark” after his children.
You can now go online to access all five tags that have been installed so far on the backs of nesting green turtles, see their tracks and view updates on their movements each time they surface..
The Kiunga turtle project team hopes to install another five tags in January to compare the movements of breeding versus non-breeding green turtles.
Click the globe to explore WWF's work
