Wreck Rock Turtle Care - satellite tracking

Original provider:
[e-mail]

Dataset credits:
Data provider
Aubrey Strydom
Originating data center
<a href='http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/' target='_blank'>Satellite Tracking and Analysis Tool (STAT)</a>
Project partner
Aubrey Strydom (Satellite tracking & T1 - the ATV)<br>Lightforce (The light bars on T1) <br>Tom Garrett (Volunteer fox control)<br>TurtleCare Volunteers Queensland Inc.<br>Burnett Mary Regional Group for Natural Resource Management.<br>Queensland Parks & Wildlife, Deepwater National Park<br>Queensland Turtle Conservation Research Program: Aquatic Threatened Species Unit, (Department of Environment & Science)<br>Wildlife Computers, Redmond, Washington<br>CLS ARGOS

Abstract:
Volunteers Neville and Bevlyn McLachlan initiated and have been running the Wreck Rock Turtle Care program for 45 years, with help from their family and friends.<br>Nev commenced monitoring back in the early 1970's and Bev joined him in 1977. They have not missed a nesting season since then.<br>Each season they spend December and January camped in the Deepwater National Park.<br>They spend their nights patrolling the beach on quad bikes and ATVs, and the next morning place mesh on the newly laid clutches to protect them from fox and goanna predation.<br><br>TurtleCare Volunteers Queensland Inc is an incorportated association established for the purpose of fostering conservation through study and enjoyment of turtles. Through this organization they have the ability to raise funds to further the study that operates in conjunction with the Turtle Research Program, centered around the Mon Repos Rookery, which is a part of the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.<br>The volunteers at Wreck Rock spend all night patrolling the 22km beach, tagging adult turtles, monitoring their nesting and the hatching of newborn turtles and trying to keep the foxes and goannas (monitor lizards) from destroying the nests during their 8 week incubation period.<br>Tom Garrett and Rusty, his fox sniffing dog, volunteer a month at Deepwater National Park each season targeting fox dens. <br><br>A special feature of this beach is that 4 species of turtles have been recorded nesting here. Loggerheads, greens, and flatbacks frequently nest in this area, and until the mid 1990's it was the last known nesting site in Queensland for the rare and huge leatherback turtle. <br>