scholarly journals Trends in Marine Turtle Strandings along the East Queensland, Australia Coast, between 1996 and 2013

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaylene Flint ◽  
Mark Flint ◽  
Colin J. Limpus ◽  
Paul C. Mills

In-water monitoring of marine vertebrates is usually expensive while the use of stranding data can be used to provide a cost-effective estimation of disease and mortality. Strandings for Queensland are recorded in a web based database (StrandNet) managed by the Queensland Government’s Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP). Data recorded in StrandNet from the east coast of Queensland between 1996 and 2013 were investigated for patterns of stranding. Significant trends in Queensland over this time were (i) an increase in the number of animals reported stranded within this study site; (ii) a species (loggerhead and green marine turtles) prevalence; (iii) a seasonal effect on different age classes stranding with most overall strandings occurring between August and November; and (iv) stranding hotspots (Moreton Bay, Hervey Bay, Rockhampton region, and Cleveland Bays) persisting throughout the study timeframe. This study suggested that intervention strategies, such as rehabilitation, should be able to be focussed on periods of heightened importance and specific localities to minimize health risks and contribute to sustainable use of resources.

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaylene Flint ◽  
Mark Flint ◽  
Colin James Limpus ◽  
Paul Mills

Rehabilitation of marine turtles in Queensland has multifaceted objectives. It treats individual animals, serves to educate the public, and contributes to conservation. We examined the outcome from rehabilitation, time in rehabilitation, and subsequent recapture and restranding rates of stranded marine turtles between 1996 and 2013 to determine if the benefits associated with this practice are cost-effective as a conservation tool. Of 13,854 marine turtles reported as stranded during this 18-year period, 5,022 of these turtles were stranded alive with the remainder verified as dead or of unknown condition. A total of 2,970 (59%) of these live strandings were transported to a rehabilitation facility. Overall, 1,173/2,970 (39%) turtles were released over 18 years, 101 of which were recaptured: 77 reported as restrandings (20 dead, 13 alive subsequently died, 11 alive subsequently euthanized, 33 alive) and 24 recaptured during normal marine turtle population monitoring or fishing activities. Of the turtles admitted to rehabilitation exhibiting signs of disease, 88% of them died, either unassisted or by euthanasia and 66% of turtles admitted for unknown causes of stranding died either unassisted or by euthanasia. All turtles recorded as having a buoyancy disorder with no other presenting problem or disorder recorded, were released alive. In Queensland, rehabilitation costs approximately $1,000 per animal per year admitted to a center, $2,583 per animal per year released, and $123,750 per animal per year for marine turtles which are presumably successfully returned to the functional population. This practice may not be economically viable in its present configuration, but may be more cost effective as a mobile response unit. Further there is certainly benefit giving individual turtles a chance at survival and educating the public in the perils facing marine turtles. As well, rehabilitation can provide insight into the diseases and environmental stressors causing stranding, arming researchers with information to mitigate negative impacts.


2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-7
Author(s):  
Linda J. Johnston ◽  
Norma Gonzalez-Rojano ◽  
Kevin J. Wilkinson ◽  
Baoshan Xing

Abstract Nanotechnology has developed rapidly in the last two decades with significant effort focused on the development of nano-enabled materials with new or improved properties that offer solutions for current world challenges. The commercialization of products containing engineered nanomaterials (ENM) has progressed much more rapidly than the development of practical approaches to ensure their safe and sustainable use. The lack of adequate detection and characterization techniques and reproducible and validated methods for toxicological studies have been identified as major limitations. The rapid development of ENM of increasing complexity and diversity and concerns over the adequacy of existing regulations also contribute to safety concerns with these materials. The full potential of nanotechnology can only be realized when feasible, cost-effective strategies to ensure a safe-by-design approach, effective risk assessment approaches and appropriate regulatory guidelines are in place.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam G. Clause ◽  
Aaron J. Celestian ◽  
Gregory B. Pauly

AbstractPlastic pollution, and especially plastic ingestion by animals, is a serious global issue. This problem is well documented in marine systems, but it is relatively understudied in freshwater systems. For turtles, it is unknown how plastic ingestion compares between marine and non-marine species. We review the relevant turtle dietary literature, and find that plastic ingestion is reported for all 7 marine turtle species, but only 5 of 352 non-marine turtle species. In the last 10 years, despite marine turtles representing just 2% of all turtle species, almost 50% of relevant turtle dietary studies involved only marine turtles. These results suggest that the potential threat of plastic ingestion is poorly studied in non-marine turtles. We also examine plastic ingestion frequency in a freshwater turtle population, finding that 7.7% of 65 turtles had ingested plastic. However, plastic-resembling organic material would have inflated our frequency results up to 40% higher were it not for verification using Raman spectroscopy. Additionally, we showcase how non-native turtles can be used as a proxy for understanding the potential for plastic ingestion by co-occurring native turtles of conservation concern. We conclude with recommendations for how scientists studying non-marine turtles can improve the implementation, quality, and discoverability of plastic ingestion research.


Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 590
Author(s):  
Fernando V. Lima ◽  
Gerardo J. Ruiz-Mercado

The growing worldwide demand for energy and resources, combined with the stringent environmental challenges and regulations, means that the efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable use of energy and material sources, including bio-based, has become increasingly important [...]


2010 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip J. Bacon ◽  
William S. C. Gurney ◽  
Eddie McKenzie ◽  
Bryce Whyte ◽  
Ronald Campbell ◽  
...  

Abstract Bacon, P. J., Gurney, W. S. C., McKenzie, E., Whyte, B., Campbell, R., Laughton, R., Smith, G., and MacLean, J. 2011. Objective determination of the sea age of Atlantic salmon from the sizes and dates of capture of individual fish. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: 130–143. The sea ages of Atlantic salmon indicate crucial differences between oceanic feeding zones that have important implications for conservation and management. Historical fishery-catch records go back more than 100 years, but the reliability with which they discriminate between sea-age classes is uncertain. Research data from some 188 000 scale-aged Scottish salmon that included size (length, weight) and seasonal date of capture on return to the coast were investigated to devise a means of assigning sea age to individual fish objectively. Two simple bivariate probability distributions are described that discriminate between 1SW and 2SW fish with 97% reliability, and between 2SW and 3SW fish with 70% confidence. The same two probability distributions achieve this accuracy across five major east coast Scottish rivers and five decades. They also achieve the same exactitude for a smaller recent dataset from the Scottish west coast, from the River Tweed a century ago (1894/1895), and for salmon caught by rod near the estuary. More surprisingly, they also achieve the same success for rod-caught salmon taken at beats remote from the estuary and including capture dates when some fish could have been in the river for a few months. The implications of these findings for fishery management and conservation are discussed.


2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusheng Chen ◽  
Satyandra K. Gupta ◽  
Shaw Feng

Abstract This paper describes a web-based process/material advisory system that can be used during conceptual design. Given a set of design requirements for a part during conceptual design stage, our system produces process sequences that can meet the design requirements. Quite often during conceptual design stage, design requirements are not precisely defined. Therefore, we allow users to describe design requirements in terms of parameter ranges. Parameter ranges are used to capture uncertainties in design requirements. Our system accounts for uncertainties in design requirements in generating and evaluating process/material combinations. Our system uses a two step algorithm. During the first step, we generate a material/process option tree. This tree represents various process/material options that can be used to meet the given set of design requirements. During the second step, we evaluate various alternative process/material options using a depth first branch and bound algorithm to identify and recommend the least expensive process/material combination to the designer. Our system can be accessed on the World Wide Web using a standard browser. Our system allows designs to consider a wide variety of process/material options during the conceptual design stage and allows them to find the most cost-effective combination. By selecting the process/material combination during the early design stages, designers can ensure that the detailed design is compatible with all of the process constraints for the selected process.


2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 4079-4091 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracy Ewen ◽  
Jan Seibert

Abstract. Games are an optimal way to teach about water resource sharing, as they allow real-world scenarios to be enacted. Both students and professionals learning about water resource management can benefit from playing games, through the process of understanding both the complexity of sharing of resources between different groups and decision outcomes. Here we address how games can be used to teach about water resource sharing, through both playing and developing water games. An evaluation of using the web-based game Irrigania in the classroom setting, supported by feedback from several educators who have used Irrigania to teach about the sustainable use of water resources, and decision making, at university and high school levels, finds Irrigania to be an effective and easy tool to incorporate into a curriculum. The development of two water games in a course for masters students in geography is also presented as a way to teach and communicate about water resource sharing. Through game development, students learned soft skills, including critical thinking, problem solving, team work, and time management, and overall the process was found to be an effective way to learn about water resource decision outcomes. This paper concludes with a discussion of learning outcomes from both playing and developing water games.


2004 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald F. McAlpine ◽  
Stan A. Orchard ◽  
Kelly A. Sendall ◽  
Rod Palm

Marine turtles in British Columbia have previously been considered off course stragglers. Here we document 20 new reports for Green Turtles, Chelonia mydas, and Leatherback Turtles, Dermochelys coriacea, for the province. Until recently there had been no concerted effort to acquire data on marine turtle abundance or frequency off British Columbia. Observations presented here allow a reassessment of marine turtle status in British Columbia waters. We suggest Green Turtles and Leatherbacks should be considered rare vagrants and uncommon seasonal residents, respectively, off British Columbia and that they are a natural part of the British Columbia marine environment.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (8) ◽  
pp. 170153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander R. Gaos ◽  
Rebecca L. Lewison ◽  
Michael P. Jensen ◽  
Michael J. Liles ◽  
Ana Henriquez ◽  
...  

The complex processes involved with animal migration have long been a subject of biological interest, and broad-scale movement patterns of many marine turtle populations still remain unresolved. While it is widely accepted that once marine turtles reach sexual maturity they home to natal areas for nesting or reproduction, the role of philopatry to natal areas during other life stages has received less scrutiny, despite widespread evidence across the taxa. Here we report on genetic research that indicates that juvenile hawksbill turtles ( Eretmochelys imbricata ) in the eastern Pacific Ocean use foraging grounds in the region of their natal beaches, a pattern we term natal foraging philopatry. Our findings confirm that traditional views of natal homing solely for reproduction are incomplete and that many marine turtle species exhibit philopatry to natal areas to forage. Our results have important implications for life-history research and conservation of marine turtles and may extend to other wide-ranging marine vertebrates that demonstrate natal philopatry.


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