Tuesday, 29 April 2014

Australia’s new marine parks are a boon for flatback turtles

The value of Australia’s newly established network of marine parks has been highlighted by an international project that used satellites to track the vulnerable flatback sea turtle.

A valuable migration corridor of more than 1,000km in length, tens of kilometres in width and tens of kilometres from the mainland, has been identified by researchers tracking 70 flatback sea turtles by satellite. Tracking devices were attached to the turtles’ soft shells using a flexible harness that detached after about 12 months. A signal depicting the turtle’s position was transmitted in real-time every 10 to 15 minutes as the turtles surfaced to breath, to a constellation of satellites known as the ‘Argos system’.

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