|
2nd ASEAN Symposium
and Workshop on
Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation
|
SESSION
2: Nesting and Foraging Populations
|
ABSTRACTS
|
The green
turtle (Chelonia mydas): nesting trends from Heron Island,
southern Queensland, Australia
Mark Hamann1, Colin
J. Limpus2 and Joan M. Whittier1
This abstract summarise data from
4 seasons of monitoring the nesting population of Chelonia mydas
, on Heron Island in the southern Great Barrier Reef in Queensland Australia.
In one of these seasons 1997/98 effectively, the entire Chelonia mydas population was tagged and measured. There was a distinct summer
nesting season. Nesting success improved following rain. Average size,
number of clutches laid per season and remigration period did not differ
between years. On average females returned to nest every 7 years, and laid
6 clutches at 13 day intervals. Emergence's that resulted in the animals
crawling no further than the top of the beach were most likely to be unsuccessful
and were also likely to be missed by researchers. A large percent of these
missed animals emerged adjacent to public walkways or in areas most often
visited by people. The mean renesting interval for turtles returning to
nest following an unsuccessful nesting or a disturbed nesting attempt was
1day. Remigrant turtles were significantly larger (ccl) than primary tagged
turtles and arrived earlier in the season. The full season’s tagging census
data were examined to determine optimal times for sampling a rookery when
only a portion of the nesting season may be surveyed.
1Department of Anatomical
Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane
2Environmental Protection
Agency, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service
|
