Article

Satellite tracking to improve marine turtle conservation in West Africa

Dakar, Senegal - Scientists and representatives from WWF, the University of Exeter, and local conservation organization Natura 2000 have successfully tagged nine loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) living around the Cape Verde Islands, off the coast of West Africa, with satellite trackers. The aim of the project is to track the marine turtles to discover their migration routes.

"The project will help uncover the migratory secrets of these reptiles and contribute to ongoing efforts to safeguard them,” says Dr Brendan Godley of the University of Exeter, UK.

The Cape Verde archipelago, 500km off the west coast of Africa, hosts one of the world's largest loggerhead turtle nesting colonies. However, the area is also a major fishing hotspot, which puts the turtles in danger of being accidently caught as bycatch by fishing fleets.

Incidental bycatch is one of the biggest threats to marine animals. Research published earlier this year shows that in 2000, 1.4 billion hooks were cast into the world's oceans through industrial fishing. It is thought that globally, more than 200,000 loggerhead turtles were incidentally caught by fishermen trawling the waters for other species. Of these, tens of thousands are thought to have died as a result.

“The important thing to remember is that these staggering statistics only show the effects of one type of mechanized fishing, primarily targeting tuna and swordfish,” says Arona Soumare, Marine Protected Areas and Threatened Species Programme Officer in WWF's West Africa Programme. "There are also captures by trawlers, purse-seines, and gill nets, not to mention the small-scale artisanal fisheries in West Africa."

A better understanding of where the Cape Verde turtles spend their time would help with conservation efforts to save this endangered species. In collaboration with the local Cape Verde government and conservation NGOs like Natura 2000 and WWF, scientists from the University of Exeter are working to solve the mystery. After fitting the animals with satellite trackers, the team are using the internet to follow their journeys, which are among the longest in the animal kingdom.

Earlier this year, representatives from six West African countries, IUCN, and WWF gathered in Guinea Bissau to develop national and regional capacity for marine turtle monitoring activities and review the regional marine turtle conservation plan. WWF’s current focus in West Africa is to support the monitoring of marine turtle populations through satellite tracking.

More information:

Reproduced with permission from WWF. © 2002 WWF-- World Wide Fund For Nature. (Formerly World Wildlife Fund). All rights reserved

Related articles:

Science in Africa - Africa's First On-Line Science Magazine

Copyright  2002, Science in Africa, Science magazine for Africa CC. All Rights Reserved

Terms and Conditions