20 Mar 2008 - After
unsuccessful attempts over the last 2 years,
this was the final one during this nesting
season to locate and satellite tag a hawksbill
nester, a first for Fiji. One of the major
challenges has been the lack of funds to
reach isolated islands which are now
thought to support what remains of a once
thriving Fiji turtle nesting population.
Additionally, unlike that of the Solomon
Islands, PNG and Indonesia, there is no
one large known nesting beach in Fiji.
While nesting sites
have been recorded on various islands throughout
the Fijian Archipelago, nesting incidences
in recent years have been minimal. Records
of turtles nesting on Makogai Island for
a period of 20 years show that in 1987 there
were 21 nests while only 5 nests were recorded
in 2007 (Department of Fisheries, Fiji,
2007).
Then in January, a National
Trust and WWF team struck it lucky. On their
way to await turtles and carry out research
work, they spotted a nesting hawksbill turtle
(Eretmochelys imbricata)on a secluded beach
locally known as Talice, North east of Yadua
Taba Island.
The turtle was spotted
by the National Trust Officer, Jone Niukula,
and other members of the team. The sight
of the turtle crawl tracks on the beach
triggered a wave of excitement among the
researchers.
Pita Biciloa, Yadua Taba park ranger maneuvered
his boat in an attempt to channel through
a small passage to get to Talice. “This
was a difficult task, especially because
of storm waves that were battering the beach”,
he said.
The team managed to
secure the boat ashore, their excitement
and enthusiasm fuelled even more, as they
approached the turtle crawl tracks on the
beach and heard loud “swooshes” – the sound
of sand being scattered as the hawksbill
turtle began to dig its nest.
The collaborative effort
between the National Trust of Fiji (NTF),
the community of Yadua, The Secretariat
of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme
(SPREP), the National Ocean & Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) and WWF has been the
climax of ongoing efforts over the past
years to protect an endangered cultural
icon.
“It is highly possible
that the 88.8cm hawksbill turtle is a hatchling
of Yadua returning after more than 25 years
to the beach of her birth to transfer her
genetic code into the future”, said Sanivalati
Navuku.
The hawksbill was named
‘Marama ni Yadua’ (Lady of Yadua) by the
villagers. They expressed great emotion
at seeing the turtle lay its eggs and, with
the attachment of the satellite tag, commented
that it would be an unforgettable experience
for them and Yadua community.
The satellite tag was
attached to the turtle’s shell using a laminating
resin that should ensure the tag remains
for at least 6 months.
A small church service
was conducted before the turtle was released
into the sea with the hope to see it return
to Yadua in the years to come.
The excitement generated
out of locating the nesting turtle on Yadua
Taba stems out of the fact that this is
Fiji’s first ever satellite tagged turtle.
“It has become increasingly
difficult to find nesting turtles in Fiji”,
said Jone Niukula. “Reasons for this difficulty
include low numbers of turtles returning
to nest perhaps due to the low numbers of
hatchlings that mature to an age where they’re
capable of reproducing. This could be due
to many reasons including domestic consumption
of turtles and eggs, loss of feeding and
nesting grounds or being accidentally caught
in fisheries gear. So when the team saw
Marama ni Yadua, we quickly reacted to ensure
that we could satellite tag a turtle out
of Fiji.”
Turtles are known to
nest from November through to March. Thus,
over the holiday period, several other teams
were conducting nesting beach work around
Fiji including the Mamanuca group, Koro
Island and Yadua Taba.
“These surveys are a
part of Fiji’s Sea Turtle Recovery Plan
– a document developed by various stakeholders
to address key threats contributing to the
decline of turtle populations in Fiji”,
said Sanivalati Navuku.
Around the region, satellite
telemetry work has enabled several Pacific
Island countries and territories (PICTs)
like Samoa, Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands,
Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia to track
the migration of turtles that had nested
on their beaches.
Several of these telemetry
results illustrate a westward trend to migration,
with turtles tagged in 3 of the countries
/ territories listed above migrating to
Fiji. Fiji’s healthy sea grass meadows and
coral reefs are ‘hotspots’ for turtles to
feed.
One famous illustration
of this type of work was the migration of
Lady Vini – a female hawksbill turtle tagged
in Samoa in March 2006 and then moved through
the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ’s) of
6 Pacific Island Countries & Territories
(PICTs) before entering Fiji’s in October
06 where the signal then died.
*Jone Niukula is working for the National
Trust of Fiji
*Sainivalati Navuku is WWF Fiji Country
Programme officer
Editor’s Note:
For several years now, turtle migrations
have been tracked through various tagging
methods including titanium flipper, passive
internal transponder (PIT) or satellite
tags. Titanium flipper tags are the more
commonly employed method as it is relatively
inexpensive. However, data retrieval is
entirely dependant upon the serial numbers
being reported to the relevant authorities
by those who come across turtles carrying
these flipper tags. Based on these reports,
authorities are then able to plot the turtle’s
path of migration.
While being more expensive,
using satellite telemetry to track the migration
of turtles during the 2006 Year of the Sea
Turtle, SPREP facilitated the satellite
tagging of turtles in Samoa, American Samoa,
French Polynesia and were working with Fiji
to do the same. Perhaps the most famous
of those satellite tagged turtles was Lady
Vini – a hawksbill nester tagged out of
Samoa in March (06) and arrived in Fiji
in October (06) after having swum through
the EEZs of 6 other Pacific Island countries
including Samoa, American Samoa, Cook Islands,
Kiribati, Tuvalu, Wallis & Futuna. Unfortunately,
the signal was lost shortly after her arrival
in Fiji.
The turtle conservation
work in Fiji significantly contributes to
meeting key goals of the turtle bycatch
component in the Coral Triangle Network
Initiative.
The Coral Triangle is
the world’s epicenter of marine life abundance
and diversity. The richness of coral, fish
and other species is so high that the region
is sometimes referred to as the “Amazon
of the Seas”. This triangular shaped region
covers all or part of the seas of six countries:
Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines,
Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste. Fiji is
part of WWF‘s Coral Triangle Initiative,
which also includes the neighboring country
of Australia. Fiji is home to a rich coral
biodiversity as well, but with lower numbers
known to science.
