Five species of turtle can be found stranded on beaches or
incidentally captured by local fisheries throughout Taiwan. A hot-spot for sea
turtle by-catch in pound net fisheries is DongAo, Northern Taiwan. It is
thought that this area is an important migratory route for loggerhead and green
turtles.
These include (in order of abundance):
These include (in order of abundance):
Green turtle (Chelonia mydas)
Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta)
Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata)
Olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea)
Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)
When a turtle is found stranded or caught while fishing, the Taiwan Coast Guard administration notifies our team, and we travel to the turtle's location and determine what steps need to be taken based on the situation.
With deceased turtles, if turtle condition permits:
- Collection of biometric information.
- Tissue sample collection.
- Necropsy to determine the cause of death.
- Analysis of stomach contents.
Healthy turtle procedure:
- Biometric data is collected: curved carapace length and width, straight carapace length and width.
- Satellite transmitters are sometimes attached to by-caught and stranded turtles that have been fully rehabilitated.
- The health turtles is assessed, which includes determining the presence and/or degree of fibropapillomatosis, ectoparasite (sea turtle leech) assessment and collection, abnormality and injury assessment (boat trauma, entanglement trauma, shark bite, mating-related injuries, etc.).
- Blood and tissue samples are also collected.
- The turtle is tagged with Taiwanese inconel tags (TW####).
- Turtles are released promptly after data and samples are collected, occasionally with a satellite tracker.
Injured and/or unhealthy turtle procedure:
- All of the above, but turtles are first taken to a specialist vet at National Taiwan University Veterinary Hospital for assessment, then rehabilitated at National Taiwan Ocean University as per the vet’s recommendations.
Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta)
Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata)
Olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea)
Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)
When a turtle is found stranded or caught while fishing, the Taiwan Coast Guard administration notifies our team, and we travel to the turtle's location and determine what steps need to be taken based on the situation.
With deceased turtles, if turtle condition permits:
- Collection of biometric information.
- Tissue sample collection.
- Necropsy to determine the cause of death.
- Analysis of stomach contents.
Healthy turtle procedure:
- Biometric data is collected: curved carapace length and width, straight carapace length and width.
- Satellite transmitters are sometimes attached to by-caught and stranded turtles that have been fully rehabilitated.
- The health turtles is assessed, which includes determining the presence and/or degree of fibropapillomatosis, ectoparasite (sea turtle leech) assessment and collection, abnormality and injury assessment (boat trauma, entanglement trauma, shark bite, mating-related injuries, etc.).
- Blood and tissue samples are also collected.
- The turtle is tagged with Taiwanese inconel tags (TW####).
- Turtles are released promptly after data and samples are collected, occasionally with a satellite tracker.
Injured and/or unhealthy turtle procedure:
- All of the above, but turtles are first taken to a specialist vet at National Taiwan University Veterinary Hospital for assessment, then rehabilitated at National Taiwan Ocean University as per the vet’s recommendations.
Here is a link to the story of a Japanese-tagged green
turtle that stranded in Northern Taiwan, was rehabilitated and released with a
satellite tracker:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2014/04/09/environment/japan-turtle-finds-haven-in-taiwan/#.U0aKevmSySo
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2014/04/09/environment/japan-turtle-finds-haven-in-taiwan/#.U0aKevmSySo
No comments:
Post a Comment