#sea turtles
TheSeri, or Comcaac, people of the Sonora coast have had a long and important relationship with the leatherback. Considered to be one of their five creator deities, the capture and release of a leatherback is cause for ceremony and celebrations. In recent years, however, the nation has noticed the drastic decline of the leatherback population and decided to take action. The new conservation movement, called Grupo Tortuguero Comaac, consists of both elders and youths and uses both modern technology and tradition knowledge to monitor turtle populations and research their foraging habits. Five person teams consisting of an elder, two younger team members, and two trainees make monitoring expeditions into the Canal de Infiernillo, the center of Seri territory and a site of extreme importance for migrating juvenile turtles. This has proven an effective means of both monitoring local turtle populations and passing traditional knowledge on to the younger generations.
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Theleatherback turtle has no teeth. Instead, its throat is lined with backwards-pointing spines designed to snag prey and prevent it from escaping once the turtle bites down.
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During the breeding season, a female leatherback turtle will return to a sandy beach in the same region where she was born. At night, when the chances of predation are lowest, she will haul herself up onto the sand, dig a pit, and lay her eggs. She may lay up to nine clutches of over one hundred eggs, with nine days passing in between the laying of each clutch.
Nesting season is the only time adult leatherbacks will be found on the land, and the animals will consist only of females. Once a male leatherback has entered the sea, he will never leave it.
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Gliding through these gorgeous isles, meet green sea turtles, “boat boys” who feed and outfit you, and history in turquoise.
View from Petit Rameau, Tobago Cays, in the Grenadines. MICHAELA URBAN
By: Eric Vohr, For The Inquirer
Unspoiled white-sand beaches, turquoise-blue waters, frolicking green sea turtles, and bays, lagoons, and reefs so idyllic you have to pinch yourself just to make sure…
5 things you didn’t know you could do in the NT
There’s more to the Top End than you think. Picture: Tourism NT. Source: Supplied
THE vast yet beautiful Northern Territory drew more local and international travellers this year than any of the past five.
The National Visitor Survey showed 1.34 million visitors ticked the Territory off their bucket lists, a 14 per cent increase. So what makes this region so special?
Apart from the obvious…
What Has Happened to the Ocean’s Plastic Trash?
By: Elizabeth Paulat
Many of us have seen the photos of plastic refuse in the ocean, the large islands of bags and waste that collect at tidal crossroads. Yet when scientists took a survey of the ocean earlier this year, they found a suspicious amount had disappeared. Was it just our good luck that pollution was decreasing? Hardly. It had simply been sinking, breaking apart and embedding itself…
North Bend teacher gets fellowship to study sea turtles in Costa Rica
Katrina Alegado, an eighth grade science teacher at Twin Falls Middle School, has been accepted into Ecology Project International’s Marine Education Fellowship in Costa Rica, April 18 to 25.
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Sound on for bubbles
Flippy flaps once he’s free
A Closer Look at Reptiles, Bernard Stonehouse, 1979. Illustrated by Gary Hincks, Alan Male, and Phil Weare.
About Reptiles: A Guide for Children, written by Cathryn Sill and illustrated by John Sill, 1999.
Job Opportunities – Sea Turtle, Inc
Sea Turtle Inc. located in South Padre, Texas is taking applications for summer field interns until Nov. 8th
