loquat149
Contributor
seaturtle.org now has a sea turtle sightings database online. Anyone, including the public, can enter sightings through this portal.
seaturtle.org - iSTOR
seaturtle.org - iSTOR
Submit your sea turtle sightings online
- Thread starter loquat149
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Pug211
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Kewl sight, thanks for the post.
Charlie99
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It doesn't seem like they are trying to track individuals. I wonder of how much use the database will be.
For most (all??) species of turtles, each individual has a unique pattern around the head and neck.
Andy of Mike Severns Diving in Maui did an interesting study that involved taking photos of turtles up and down the coast of S. Maui and out at Molokini. IIRC, he collected photos of 300+ individual turtles, with multiple sightings of most. It showed how much (actually how little) they typically moved, and also works much better as a census counting than simply counting the number so times somebody sees unidentified turtles.
For most (all??) species of turtles, each individual has a unique pattern around the head and neck.
Andy of Mike Severns Diving in Maui did an interesting study that involved taking photos of turtles up and down the coast of S. Maui and out at Molokini. IIRC, he collected photos of 300+ individual turtles, with multiple sightings of most. It showed how much (actually how little) they typically moved, and also works much better as a census counting than simply counting the number so times somebody sees unidentified turtles.
It's value is in presence/absence reporting, which is really all one can expect from the majority of untrained recreational divers. R.E.E.F. uses a similar approach in its "species only" surveys.
Looking at the online form, there appears to be options for several useful variables, as well as a "comments" box. From these, a great deal of qualitative (and even semi-quantitative) data can be compiled. This is actually a rather well-put-together form.
I'm sure that method is much more useful. Now figure out a standardized way for all recreational divers to be able to use it!
The most obvious answer (photograph and email) would preclude the majority of divers right off the bat. You wouldn't want to let all the photographers have all the fun, would you?Similar threads
