For the past
two years, the Torres Strait Regional Authority’s (TSRA) Land
and Sea Management Unit (LSMU) have been working with
eight Torres
Strait Island communities on the Torres
Strait Dugong and Turtle Project.
The
TSRA Dugong and Turtle Project is part of a north Australia wide project coordinated by
the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance
(NAILSMA), and funded by the Natural Heritage Trust.
The LSMU
employs a Dugong and Turtle Project Co-ordinator and a Dugong and
Turtle Project Liason Officer who work with community Project
Officers employed on the Islands of Badu, Boigu, Mabuiag, Iama,
Horn, Erub, Mer and at St Pauls community on Moa Island.
The Project is
designed to empower and strengthen Indigenous involvement in Dugong
and Turtle Management in the Torres Strait through a community-based
approach that involves each of the eight island communities
determining their own management of these important
species.
The Project
aims to:
- Develop
sustainable Dugong and Turtle Management Plans,
- Assist island
communities in monitoring the catch and health of dugong and turtle
habitats, and
- Deliver
training in order to promote community awareness of dugong and
turtle sustainability.
Training and
education is a key part of the Project.
LSMU staff
provide the community Project Officers with training opportunities
and information to assist the Officers in raising community
awareness about turtle and dugong life cycles and
sustainability.
In December
2007, as part of the Project, James Cook University delivered a week long turtle
nesting training program during which a group of Project Officers
attached satellite transmitters to two nesting green turtles
captured at Dowar, near Mer.
The purpose of
the satellite trackers was to determine where the Dowar green
turtles go when they finish nesting.
Research has
shown that turtles have set nesting locations in one region, but
set feeding areas in another, meaning that female green turtles may
travel distances up to 2,500km when moving between
locations.
During the
tracking project at Dowar, Year 3 students from Tagai State College
on Mer Campus named the two turtles Myrtle and
Ottil.
Mer Dugong and
Turtle Project Officer Mr. Moses Wailu played an important part
during the project, educating his community about the two green
turtles and ensuring the welfare of “Myrtle” and
“Ottil”.
During the
Project, Mr Wailu liaised with numerous community members including
school students, informing them of the movement patterns of the two
green turtles and placing notices throughout the community
promoting an awareness of the work performed by himself and the
Project Officers.
The two
nesting green turtles have now been tracked by satellite for three
months. “Ottil” has remained close to Mer for the
majority of the time, having been spotted by Mer community members
at Dowar in January 2008 and on the reef in February.
Recently, for the first time in 3 months, Ottil has begun to move,
heading further west from Mer. The most recent sighting
occurred close to Wednesday Island.
“Myrtle”,
the bigger of the two turtles, spent some time around Dowar
near Mer, before heading west. After a short stop near
Warrior Reef she is now south of Hawksbury Island.
James
Cook
University
’s involvement in the training was made possible through the
Marine and Tropical Science Research Facility (MTSRF) project.
University members Dr Mark Hamann and PhD candidate Mariana Fuentes
assisted with the training and are also working with Mer and Erub
Community members to study turtle nesting and nesting beach sand
temperatures at Dowar and Bramble Cay.
For more information in
relation to the Project, please call Dugong and Turtle Project
Liaison Officer Mr. Frank Loban at the LSMU on (07) 4069 2947, or
the Mer Dugong and Turtle Project Officer Mr. Moses Wailu at Mer
Council on (07) 4069 4231.
