ISSN 2373-1575 Aerial photo of Fundaçao Maio
Transcrição
ISSN 2373-1575 Aerial photo of Fundaçao Maio
No. 5 /2016 African Sea Turtle Newsletter EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Manjula Tiwari Marine Turtle Ecology & Assessment Program National Marine Fisheries Service / Ocean Associates 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive La Jolla, California 92037, USA & Ocean Ecology Network 2320 Valley Street Berkeley, California 94702, USA email: [email protected] ONLINE/MANAGING EDITOR John Dutton John Dutton Media, California, USA email: [email protected] REGIONAL EDITORS Mustapha Aksissou and Wafae Benhardouze University of Tetouan, Morocco Jacques Fretey Centre de Recherches sur les Tortues Marines– Chélonée, France Phil Allman Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida, USA Angela Formia Wildlife Conservation Society, Gabon Lindsey West Sea Sense, Tanzania photo: ©enhaut.org EDITORIAL BOARD Almokhtar Saied Environment General Authority, State of Libya Mohamed Nada MEDASSET & Nature Conservation, Egypt Ana Liria Loza Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands & Natura 2000, Cape Verde Elena Abella Pérez BIOS-CV, Cape Verde Silvana Monterio Roque Projecto Vitó, Cape Verde Edward Aruna Reptiles and Amphibians Program-Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone Andrew Agyekumhene Wildlife Division, Ghana Gabriel Segniagbeto Université de Lomé, Togo Josea Dossou-Bodjrenou Nature Tropicale, Benin Oyeronke Adegbile Nigerian Institute for Oceanography & Marine Research, Nigeria Carmen Kouerey Partenariat pour les Tortues Marines du Gabon, Gabon Michel Morais Universidade Agostinho Neto & Projeto Kitabanga, Angola Khayr-eddine Choual Université Mohammed Messaadia,Maio AlgeriaBiodiversidade's (FMB) celebrations Aerial photoChérif of Fundaçao Cristina Louro at the end of the nesting season on Maio Island, Cape Verde. Centro Terra Viva, Mozambique Imed Jribi Sfax Faculty of Sciences, Tunisia Shaya Honarvar ISSN 2373-1575 No. 5 2016 !1 No. 5 /2016 African Sea Turtle Newsletter Marine Turtle Strandings at Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve, Southern Mozambique Cristina M. M. Louro1*, Paulo M. B. Gonçalves2, Marcos A. M. Pereira1 & Raquel S. Fernandes1 1Centro Terra Viva – Estudos e Advocacia Ambiental, Maputo – Mozambique (email: [email protected]) 2Reserva Marinha Parcial da Ponta do Ouro, Ponta do Ouro - Mozambique Beaches at the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve (POPMR) in southern Mozambique are widely recognized as important nesting grounds for loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) and leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) (Costa et al. 2007; Videira et al. 2008). The adjacent waters are also vital for marine turtles, serving as feeding grounds for green (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) turtles (Hughes 1971). Since its proclamation in 2009, marine turtle monitoring and conservation efforts have increased at the POPMR, resulting in a new set of data on marine turtle strandings. This short communication presents preliminary data on marine turtle strandings along the POPMR’s coastline and discusses potential causes. Data were collected between 2007 and 2014 along the 86 km of coastline between Ponta do Ouro (26°51'32.22"S; 32°53'29.61"E) and Cabo de Santa Maria (26° 5'0.64"S; 32°57'39.06"E) (Fig. 1). Data were collected non-systematically by the Reserve’s rangers as well as by community turtle monitors. Stranding data were also provided to Reserve rangers by local community members, tourism operators, and tourists. Whenever possible, stranding data included species identification, curved carapace length (CCL) and curved carapace width (CCW) measurements, evidence of anthropogenic and other fauna interactions, individual marks, tags, date and location. Figure 1. Map of the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve in southern Mozambique. The Reserve is part of the Ponta do Ouro Kosi Bay Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA), the first marine TFCA in Africa. Figure 2. Stranded juvenile green turtle being returned to sea by the POPMR warden (Photo: POPMR). !3 2 No. 5 /2016 African Sea Turtle Newsletter Table 1. Marine turtles found dead, stranded on the beach at the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve. Species C. caretta 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - 2010 3 2011 2 2012 - 2013 2 2014 1 Total 8 Likely Causes Shark injuries (n=2) Unidentified (n=6) C. mydas 1 - - 1 2 4 4 - 12 Shark injuries (n=1) Net entanglement (n=1) Boat strike (n=1) Unidentified (n=9) E. imbricata 1 1 - 5 - - 3 - 10 Unidentified (n=10) D. coriacea Total 2 1 - 9 4 4 6 1 1 1 31 Dune stranding (n=1) Table 2. Marine turtles found alive, stranded on the beach at the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve. Species 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Total C. caretta - - - - - - - - - C. mydas - - - 2 2 1 2 1 8 E. imbricata - - - - - - 1 - 1 D. coriacea - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 2 1 3 1 9 Total A total of 35 marine turtle strandings were recorded over a period of seven years (20072014) at the POPMR. Stranded turtles found dead accounted for 26 individuals (Table 1); the remaining individuals were found alive (Table 2). Green turtles were the most common stranded species (Fig. 2), followed by hawksbills. Strandings were due to injuries likely caused by sharks (n=3), boat strikes (n=1), entanglement in nets (n=1), and a fatal fall while traversing steep sand dunes (n=1). For the remaining stranded turtles it was not possible to determine the probable cause of death or stranding. However, it could be attributed to thermal shock caused by sudden drops in sea temperature, which makes these species particularly vulnerable at the juvenile stage (G. Hughes pers. comm.). Conservation efforts are clearly visible within the POPMR and as a result, the number of nesting females poached has substantially decreased (Pereira et al. 2014). However, marine turtles at sea still face significant human induced pressures (e.g. fishing, marine debris and pollution). The POPMR !3 3 No. 5 /2016 African Sea Turtle Newsletter needs to put in place a systematic stranding monitoring program including data collection on environmental parameters (e.g., water temperature and current patterns) to improve understanding of the possible causes of marine turtle strandings, and the development of protocols for necropsy analysis. Literature Cited Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge all individuals and institutions that have contributed to the monitoring and conservation of marine turtles at the POPMR. A special thank you to the National Administration for Conservation Areas, the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve and its staff, Peace Parks Foundation, Toyota Moçambique, Petromoc, BCG, the AGIR Program, We Effect, Grupo Machangulo, Dolphin Encountours, Associaçãopara Investigação Costeira e Marinha, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Foundation and Abraham Foundation. Hughes, G. 1971. Preliminary report on the sea turtles and dugongs of Moçambique. Veterinária Moçambicana 4: 45-62. Costa, A., H. Motta, M.A.M. Pereira, E.J.S. Videira, C.M.M. Louro, and J. João. 2007. Marine turtles in Mozambique: towards an effective conservation and management program. Marine Turtle Newsletter 117: 1-3. Pereira, A.M.A, R.S. Fernandes, E.J.S. Videira, C.M.M. Louro, and P.M.B. Gonçalves. 2014. Celebrating 20 years of marine turtle tagging and monitoring in southern Mozambique. African Sea Turtle Newsletter 2: 31-33. Videira, E.J.S., M.A.M. Pereira, C.M.M. Louro, and D.A. Narane. 2008. Monitoria, marcação e conservação de tartarugas marinhas em Moçambique: dados históricos e relatórios anual 2007/08. Maputo, Grupo de Trabalho de Tartarugas Marinhas de Moçambique (GTT). 85 pp. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !3 4
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