Sea Turtle Multimedia Guide SEATURTLE.ORG

"A Beachcomber's Guide to Turtle Tracks" is a dvd produced by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, to train volunteers who participate in the agency's nesting surveys for marine turtles. These volunteers (>3,000 in 2010) contribute data to FWC's Statewide Nesting Beach Survey and Index Nesting Beach Survey. In 2010, surveys were carried out on 203 beaches that extended 1314 km. The video shows nesting behavior of loggerheads, green turtles and leatherbacks and relates that behavior to the evidence left in the sand-the tracks and nest. Volunteers learn how to identify which species of sea turtle made the track, and to determine whether a turtle nested or not. All participants are permitted by the agency to conduct activities related to sea turtles in Florida. For more information, see http://myfwc.com/research/wildlife/sea-turtles/nesting/sea-turtle-monitoring/

Seminar given by Michael Coyne of SEATURTLE.ORG at the Duke University Marine Lab, 4 February 2009. This talks gives an overview of the mission and programs of the non-profit SEATURTLE.ORG and details how these help to build a global sea turtle network.

It is available to download the fourth (the last one!) episode of the WebVDoc series "Sea Turtles in Cape Verde". It is a documentary series produced during the "beach" work months of the 2007 "Initiative for Conservation and Integrated Management of Sea Turtles in the Santiago Island - Cape Verde", carried by the Algarve University (Portugal) with the Lisbon Oceanarium support.
This episode, named "Histories with Turtles. 3 Life or Dead Contrasts", have a duration of almost 10 minutes. It speaks about cape-verdian people that protects and enjoy to see sea turtles on the beaches, but, sometimes, kill them...
Sea turtles death is, of course, only one more perturbing example of the biodiversity loss that is occurring in any region and any country in the today's World! What are we doing to stop biodiversity loss in countries like Cape Verde?

Loggerhead hatchlings have an incredibly frenzy period of life that begins after the eggshells' pipping. This frenetic activity occurs in the nest chamber and help hatchlings during its climb to the beach surface. Emergence in another frenzy period, followed by minutes of frenzy crawl seaward. Finally inside coastal sea-waters, hatchlings remain with a frenzy activity, swimming underwater until the relative safely open-ocean...

This 9 minutes WebVDoc, shot in the beaches of Praia Baixo and Achada Baleia (Santiago Island, Cape Verde), presents several frenzy periods: emergence, crawling and swimming. Also, this WebVDoc reports some activities related with hatchling and emergence success evaluation, included in the "beach work" of the first year campaign of the Initiative for Integrated Management of Sea Turtles in the Santiago Island, Cape Verde. (Portuguese spoken)!

Step by step, the loggerhead nesting process in the beaches of Praia Baixo and Achada Baleia (Santiago Island, Cape Verde), during the nesting season (July to September) of 2007. The body pit and nest chamber excavation, the oviposition, the nest filling and compactation, and the return to the sea. 1h 30 of pure "turtle watching" presented in a 10 minutes WebVDoc, with an accurate explanation (Portuguese spoken)!

An overview about sea turtles conservation in the biggest of the ten islands that form the capeverdian archipelago. Interviews with local people help to understand the problems related with nesting beaches and captures of Caretta caretta reproductive females. A hope in the new mentality that is arriving to Cape Verde can save these sea turtle populations...