Indian Ocean

Improving Hatching Success on Cousine Island, Republic of Seychelles

Cousine Island is a small granitic island (25.7 ha) within the Republic of Seychelles containing a singular beach on its eastern, windward side. It is situated five kilometres from the second most populated island in the Seychelles, Praslin, and only two kilometres from the neighbouring island of Cousin (a nature reserve managed by Nature Seychelles since 1998). Since the purchase of Cousine Island by the current owner in 1991, conservation activities to monitor the nesting hawksbill females on the beach have been implemented as well as efforts to improve hatching success rates and the number of hatchlings released to sea.

27 January 2021

Vulnerability of Marine Turtles to Climate Change

Marine turtles are generally viewed as vulnerable to climate change because of the role that temperature plays in the sex determination of embryos, their long
life history, long age-to-maturity and their highly migratory nature. Impacts of different consequences of climate change, such as temperature and sea level rise, extreme weather events etc. in combination with anthropogenic pressures are discussed in this book chapter.

10 May 2019

Regional Workshop for MTCF-funded projects held in Cambodia

Bonn/Kep, December 2019 - A regional training workshop was organized in Kep, Cambodia (29 October – 2 November 2018) for projects funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Marine Turtle Conservation Fund in Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

21 March 2019

The fight against illegal trade in marine turtles needs a global approach and local communities

Bonn, 7 March 2019 - the global ban on the international trade of marine turtles and their products under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

07 March 2019

Global Dugong Genetics Project

The Global Dugong Genetics Project aims to examine the phylogeography of the dugong based on historical samples from throughout the dugong’s range. It will update conservation and management actions through mapping the distribution of discrete dugong populations; identifying historical and potential migratory routes; and highlighting small populations as a priority for conservation. The Project was a collaboration between James Cook University and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.

04 May 2021

GEF Dugong and Seagrass Conservation Project

The GEF-5 Project represents a major international collaboration. It is unique in being the first coordinated approach to enhance the effectiveness of conservation of dugongs and their seagrass ecosystems through community-based stewardship, incentive-based conservation, removal of knowledge barriers and national and regional mainstreaming activities. The project covers 38 national projects, managed in collaboration with 26 local partners in Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mozambique, Sri Lanka, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste and Vanuatu.

04 May 2021

First Report of Metallic Elements in Loggerhead and Leatherback Turtle Eggs from the Indian Ocean

Bio-monitoring of pollutants in long-lived animals such as sea turtles is an important tool in ecotoxicology. We present the first report on metallic elements in sea turtle eggs from the Indian Ocean. Eggs of the leatherback and loggerhead turtle that breed on the Indian Ocean coast of South Africa were analysed for 30 elements. The eggshells and egg contents of the loggerhead turtle, the smaller of the two species, had higher or significantly higher concentrations than leatherbacks, except for strontium - the reason is unknown.

13 September 2018

Metals in Blood and Eggs of Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas) from Nesting Colonies of the Northern Coast of the Sea of Oman

The green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) has been a species of global concern for decades. In this study, heavy metals (mercury: Hg; Cadmium: Cd; Lead: Pb; Copper: Cu; and Zinc: Zn) were measured in blood and three egg fraction of green sea turtles nesting on the northern coast of Sea of Oman. Heavy metals concentrations in blood, yolk, albumen, and egg shell ranged between 0.16–36.78, 0.006–33.88, 0.003–4.02, and 0.002–6.85 μg/g (ww), respectively.

14 September 2018

Marine Turtles of the Maldives–A Field Identification Guide

This guide includes 8 sections, and they are 'what is a turtle?', 'marine turtle in the Maldives', 'species profiles', 'ecological role and importance of marine turtles', 'global threats to marine turtles', 'threats to marine turtles in the Maldivian archipelago', 'turtle conservation efforts and legislation in the Maldives' and 'what to do if you see...'.

17 September 2018

Genetic Diversity of the Green Turtle (Testudines: Cheloniidae: Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus, 1758)) Population Nesting at Kosgoda Rookery, Sri Lanka

We determined the genetic diversity of the Green Turtle Chelonia mydas (Linneaus, 1758) nesting at Kosgoda rookery, the second largest sea turtle aggregation on the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka. Skin tissue samples were collected from 68 nesting females and genetic diversity was estimated using six microsatellite loci. High genetic diversity was observed within the population as all loci analyzed were highly polymorphic with a total of 149 alleles observed.

13 September 2018