The second phase of the three-year project “Monitoring and Conservation of Important Sea Turtle Feeding Grounds in the Patok Area of Albania” includes the satellite tracking of three turtles. Turtles were located with the help of local fishermen that find them in their special fish traps “stavnikes” (click here for more information). The Release On September 12th 2009, in Patok, three turtles were fitted with SPOT5 wildlife computer transmitters by lead researcher Dr. Michael White and Prof. Idriz Haxhiu of Tirana University. Albanian university students that have been trained as research assistants during the 2009 project assisted the application of the satellite tracking devices. The three turtles were then release at CET 13.00 ( Lat: N41° 37.424 Long: E019° 34.652) Local fishermen who collaborate with the project, Albanian biologists and students from Tirana University, members of the local community and tourists with their children watched the release. Media coverage included Reuters and Albanian TV Channels: Top Channel, Lezhe TV, News 24, Klan TV, Ora News, TV Shijak, TV Koha and TVSH.
The turtles were given Albanian names to celebrate this important milestone in the country's wildlife conservation history: "Guximtari" which in Albanian means brave and courageous; "Shpresa" which stands for hope for living; and "Patoku", to pay tribute to the location and community that hosts the research project.
The transmitters will allow the project team to follow via satellite the three turtles for as long as two years, assuming that transmitters and turtles remain intact.
Every time the turtle surfaces for air, the transmitter attached to its shell will send a signal with the turtle’s location to satellites around Earth, which will be sent directly to researchers’ computers.
Follow the turtles! You can also find more information on the project and more maps at http://www.seaturtle.org
We wish to acknowledge use of the Maptool program for analysis and graphics. Maptool is a product of SEATURTLE.ORG. (Information is available at www.seaturtle.org)
Shpresa(route in Pink) has remained within close range of the release site. Over half of her transmissions have been at sea depth of -10 to -25m but has been as shallow as 0 to -10m and as deep as -100 to -500!She has swam 226km so far but we have not received a good transmission from her device lately, which may be due to local topography.
Patoku(Yellow route) was an international traveller from the beginning, now notching up 5 territories; Albania (32 days), Croatia (5 days), Montenegro (5 days), 1 day in international waters and remained in Greek waters, north of Corfu island between November and March. Since then his device went silent until the 6th of May when a transmission was received locating him back at Drinit! This was the first direct evidence for the timing of a remigration into Albanian waters. He has now covered a total distance of 1248km and is 2km away from the release site.
Guximtari(Green route) initially showed fidelity to the neritic environment near Patok where foraging may have been undertaken. From February till July he was moving within Croatian waters. This movement was preceded by what could have been a period of mid-winter diapause (state of dormancy) in response to environmental conditions. He is now back at Drinit Bay, just 5km away from the release site, having swam 2230km.
Note: perceived overland travel is a result of no or very poor transmissions between two good transmissions. This could be due to the local coastal topography inhibiting transmissions or sea temperature effecting the metabolism and behaviour of the turtle.
Adopt a sea turtle! Adopt Patoku!
Help us continue tracking his migration. Click here to find out more.
Why satellite tracking? For most sea turtle populations, knowledge of the biology beyond the nesting beach remains deficient. Knowledge on the migration of male turtles is especially scarce. Satellite tracking studies of marine turtles have begun to highlight migratory corridors (e.g. Morreale et al. 1996) and important foraging sites (e.g. James et al. 2005). Typically marine turtles migrate hundreds or thousands of kilometres between specific breeding and foraging grounds (Plotkin 2003). We do not know where the turtles found in Patok come from, if they remain in the area for a period of time, or where they head to after Patok. With a satellite tracking program in place it may be possible to:
better understand sea turtles’ foraging ecology
study migration routes in the Adriatic Sea (into the Ionian Sea and elsewhere in the Mediterranean),
and locate possible overwintering habitats and mating sites.
Turtle tracking will work towards:
Establishing and communicating the migration route and feeding grounds of Loggerheads, in order to facilitate the protection of their habitats and to enhance regional cooperation for marine turtle conservation strategies and partnerships.
Educating and creating awareness at a regional, national and international level.
Shpresa
Species: Caretta caretta Female, possibly early adult Flipper tag: left anterior AL0154 Stockbrand’s titanium Curved Carapace Length (CCL)= 76.0 cm Curved Carapace Width (CCW)= 67.0 cm Other characteristics: Lower beak is cleft Argos PTT 97646
Shpresa was first captured on the 26th May 2007 in Ishmit stavnike, Patoku; at that time the carapace measured CCL = 65.0 cm and CCW = 61.0 cm. This turtle was re-captured on the 13th August 2009, once again in the Ishmit stavnikes. During the 27-month interval between the recaptures the turtle’s carapace grew remarkably. Dr White also measured the tail in 2009; these measurements provide us with some information about the likely sex of a turtle, in this case they indicate a female which may well be approaching maturity. An interesting identifiable feature is that her lower beak is split into 2 parts (i.e. cleft).
At the time of her second capture she was covered in leeches (blood-sucking parasites). Dr White kept her in freshwater for 3 days, during which time the leeches died and fell off. We released her on the 16th August. Two weeks later she was captured again in the Ishmit stavnikes … this means that it is likely she stayed in the Patoku area feeding on benthic animals, such as crabs and bivalves.
She is important to us because she is a remigrant (i.e. she has been at Patoku in more than one year) & a recapture (we have caught her more than once this year). These two pieces of information suggest that she returns to Patoku in different years, or that perhaps she lives nearby for much of the time. We do not know when or where she may go to lay her eggs. We expect that her transmitter data may help to answer these questions.
Guximtari
Species: Caretta caretta Male, adolescent Flipper tag: left anterior AL0153 Stockbrand’s titanium CCL = 69.5 cm; CCW = 65 cm Other characteristics: split Nuchal scute (very rare) Argos PTT 97647
Guximtari was first captured on the 29th August 2009 in Ishmit stavnike, Patoku. The tail measurements indicate that this is an adolescent male turtle. He has an interesting feature on his carapace: the foremost ‘nuchal’ scute is split into two; this is very rare (Dr White has only seen this in 8 turtles from over 400 recently examined). We expect to learn much about this turtle in the coming months from his satellite data.
Patoku
Species: Caretta caretta Male, adolescent (2009 is first year of adolescence) Flipper tag: right anterior AL0150 Stockbrand’s titanium CCL = 66.0 CCW = 65 cm Other characteristics: extra vertebral scute and split right costal scute Argos PTT 97648
Patoku was first captured on the 1st July 2008 and re-captured on the 2nd September 2009, in the Ishmit stavnikes, Patok. Dr White measured the tail in both years and it appears that this turtle is an adolescent male: but maybe only since 2009. He has two interesting features: an extra vertebral scute and the split 4th costal scute on the right side of his carapace.
This turtle is very interesting, as very little is known about the distribution and marine ecology of male turtles. Researchers have located mating areas of adult males in different parts of the world, however, we know almost nothing about adolescent males. Our research at Patok may well provide us with some important information about this life-stage, since we have measured 43 adolescent male loggerheads here in two years of study.
Albania waters 52 days, no where else, she truly is a home girl.
