Sea Turtles as Tropical Ocean Observers

This was project is a collaboration between the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), the Department of Defence, Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) and the Sydney Institute of Marine Science. The tea,m partnered with the Tiwi Islands Marine Rangers and the Tiwi Land Council partnered and the Crocodile Islands Rangers and Milingimbi Outstations Progress Resource Aboriginal Corporation (MOPRA). Traditional Owners of both areas gave consent for the team to work on their sea country and on these culturally important species.We deployed satellite linked tags on female turtles after they had completed nesting on the beach. Tagged turtles included olive ridley turtles on the Tiwi Islands (in May 2022) and flatback turtles (in Oct 2022) and olive ridley turtles (in May 2023) at the remote Crocodile Islands. The tags track the turtle movements anand collect temperature and salinity data from the ocean as they dive. This information will provide a better understanding of turtle habitats and behaviours around the islands and beyond to inform conservation and management and assist the dDepartment of Defence to understand the oceanography in the little-studied Arafura Sea.

本项目由澳大利亚海洋科学研究所（Australian Institute of Marine Science, AIMS）、澳大利亚国防部、综合海洋观测系统（Integrated Marine Observing System, IMOS）以及悉尼海洋科学研究所合作开展。研究团队与提维群岛海洋巡护员、提维土地委员会，以及鳄鱼群岛巡护员和米林吉姆比外站发展资源原住民公司（Milingimbi Outstations Progress Resource Aboriginal Corporation, MOPRA）达成合作。上述两个区域的传统所有者均已同意研究团队在其传统海域以及这些具有文化重要性的物种上开展研究工作。
研究团队在雌性海龟完成海滩筑巢后，为其佩戴了卫星连接式追踪标签。2022年5月，在提维群岛部署了橄榄绿鳞龟（olive ridley turtle）的追踪标签；2022年10月及2023年5月，在偏远的鳄鱼群岛分别部署了平背龟（flatback turtle）和橄榄绿鳞龟的追踪标签。
此类标签可追踪海龟的移动轨迹，并在海龟潜水期间收集海域的温度与盐度数据。
该研究数据将助力我们更全面地了解群岛周边乃至更广海域的海龟栖息地与行为特征，为海龟保护与管理工作提供科学依据，同时协助澳大利亚国防部深入了解研究程度较低的阿拉弗拉海的海洋学特征。