Threatened Leatherback Sea Turtles Protected with GPS Tracking

28 Jan 2014

Researchers attempt to save and protect the vulnerable and threatened leatherback sea turtle by monitoring them with GPS tracking technology.

The leatherback sea turtle is one of the most endangered species in the world. Sometimes referred to as the lute turtle, this special species is the largest of all living turtles and the fourth largest reptile, aside from three types of crocodiles.

Since 1980, the population of the leatherback sea turtle, who make their home in the Pacific Ocean, has declined by over 90 percent. Since the greatest risk to their life is longline fishing, researchers are using GPS tracking technology to help reduce how many turtles are caught by fishermen.

Longline fishing is a style of fishing done where thousands of hooks enter the ocean at once in an effort to catch large amounts of fish. The problem is that it also catches these rare and precious turtles, becoming the biggest threat to their survival. Because of this and other problems for leatherback sea turtles, they are now classified in threatened category, based on their conservation status.

In most cases, fishermen do not want to catch the turtles, but when the leatherback turtle bites the bait, it causes it to become caught in the lines. It is nearly impossible for fisherman fishing in this manner to avoid the turtles, putting their lives at risk.

Drexel University ran a study to track adult sea turtles wirth satellites compared to longline fishing issues in the Pacific Ocean. Through this study, they were able to predict the risk of bycatch for the turtles.

Not only can this new GPS tracking study help save the lives of the endangered species, but help improve the fishermen’s success rate at catching the fish they are hoping to reel in.

“Leatherback turtles get caught on longlines by both biting at the bait and getting entangled in the lines themselves,” said the Betz Chair Professor of Environmental Science in the College of Arts and Sciences at Drexel James Spotila, PhD.  “Fishermen do not want to catch the turtles but have had limited success in avoiding them. Now they will be able to set their lines in areas where the turtles are unlikely to occur, making the ocean safer for turtles and reducing the cost to the fishermen of having to deal with the giant turtles,” Spotila further explained.

So far, the greatest risk for these sea turtles is on the beaches of the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya, as well as some areas of the western and central parts of the Pacific Ocean.

By predicting space and time when fishermen tend to operate and when the sea turtles are located in the nesting beaches, more regulations can be set to avoid allowing fishing when the turtles might become victims.

Researchers of the GPS tracking study believe they should focus more on the hotspots for providing targeted management to prevent bycatch of the leatherback sea turtles. The GPS trackers of the turtles have helped them identify hotspots where more protection and rules need to be set in order to protect this breed of sea turtles.


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