One of the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation’s Turtle Conservation Centre turtles fitted with an acoustic tag.
Image: Supplied.
Four South African aquariums are on a mission to track the behaviour and movements of turtles in the deep blue aiming to enhance conservation efforts of the endangered species.
Through acoustic tagging, the aquariums and a leading research institute, have tagged rescued, rehabilitated and released sub-adult and adult turtles.
Bayworld, the natural and cultural history museum in Gqeberha, which has had a turtle rescue programme for at least four decades, is leading the project, supported by Cape Town’s Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation, Durban’s South African Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR, which also manages uShaka Sea World), the East London Aquarium and the national Acoustic Tracking Array Platform (ATAP).
The acoustic receivers pick up pings from the tags, which are about the size of a small matchbox, attached to the turtles’ shells. Thanks to ATAP, there are 285 moored receivers in South African waters which include marine and estuarine environments, according to Dr Taryn Murray, instrument scientist and manager of ATAP.
Acoustic tags being prepared for attachment to three of the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation’s Turtle Conservation Centre turtles prior to their release to the wild.
Image: Supplied.
“Each receiver is maintained by different scientists or organisations. Researchers can only get the data when the receivers are retrieved and the data downloaded and shared,” Talitha Noble-Trull, head of the Turtle Conservation Centre at the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation, explained.
Using acoustic tags is akin to using voice notes over cellphones to occasionally let your friends and family know how you’re doing, said Ruth Wright, project leader and aquarium curator in charge of sea turtle rehabilitation at Bayworld. “It’s like a loved one going away on a holiday and you’re so happy for them and excited for their amazing journey ahead, but you want them to let you know how they’re doing every now and then. That’s what the acoustic tag does – in essence it sends us a voice note.”
A turtle fitted with an acoustic tag making their way across the sand into the wild ocean after rehabilitation at the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation’s Turtle Conservation Centre.
Image: Supplied.
The idea is to use any data received from the more than 30 tagged turtles to build up a better understanding of their movement patterns along South Africa’s coastline. It also forms part of post-rehabilitation monitoring. Rehabilitating turtles, whether they’re hatchlings, sub-adults or adults can take months and sometimes years.
“We want to know, once the turtles are released, are we making a difference? Are we actually contributing to the survival and the conservation of these animals, or are we wasting our time? So it becomes really important that we do post rehabilitation monitoring,” said Wright.
A map of the network of acoustic receivers at De Hoop Marine Protected Area.
Image: Supplied.
From acoustically tagged turtles released prior to December, Cape Town’s Turtle Conservation Centre has received two reports so far.
“There have been very, very interesting results. Some turtles stayed around De Hoop for five months, one of the turtles went up to the Eastern Cape’s Wild Coast and then came back to De Hoop. So, there’s been really good data and that’s just our turtles – there’s data on the other turtles from the other aquaria too,” said Noble-Trull.
Weekend Argus