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Ningaloo Turtle Program annual report 2010-2011
| Title | Ningaloo Turtle Program annual report 2010-2011 |
| Publication Type | Report |
| Year of Publication | 2011 |
| Authors | Kelliher, S, Lusty C, Prophet M |
| Pagination | 1-62 |
| Date Published | 06/2011 |
| Institution | Ningaloo Turtle Program |
| City | Exmouth |
| Report Number | Annual report 2010-2011 |
| Keywords | biodiversity, Ningaloo, turtles |
| Abstract | The Ningaloo Turtle Program (NTP) was established in 2002 as a collaborative project between Cape
Conservation Group Inc (CCG), World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-Australia and the Department of
Environment and Conservation (DEC)-Exmouth District. The primary aim of the program is to
promote and ensure the long-term survival of turtle populations within the Ningaloo Region by
collecting long-term trend data on marine turtle population size.
For the purpose of the program, the Ningaloo Region is divided spatially into a hierarchical
classification. Within this classification there are four Divisions within the Ningaloo Region: North
West (NW) Cape Division, Cape Range Division, Bundera/Ningaloo Division and Coral Bay
Division. Each division is then further divided into sections and subsections. In 2010-2011 only the
NW Cape and Cape Range Divisions were monitored intensively due to consolidation of the program
in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 (Whiting, 2008). This consolidation is also attributed to capacity
constraints and limited funding. Opportunistic monitoring only was carried out in the
Bundera/Ningaloo Division and Coral Bay Divisions. However, for the purpose of this report, data
collected from these divisions has been omitted from the results.
Since commencement of the program in 2002, volunteers have contributed 42,738 hours to the NTP.
This figure alone demonstrates the importance of volunteers for the continuation and sustainability of
this community-based program.
The 2010-2011 NTP season proved to be very active not only in terms of turtle activity, with 3295
new nests and 6975 false crawls recorded in the Ningaloo Region (approximately 3 times more than
last season), but also in terms of cyclonic activity. At the time of writing, 5 severe weather events (2
monsoonal lows and 3 tropical cyclones) brought heavy rain, flooding, gale force winds and major
tidal activity within the areas the NTP operates. Subsequently tidal inundation resulted in 46% of
damaged nests.
Please note this report only contains figures up to and including the 30th January 2011. Please also
note at time of writing the final three intermittent monitoring operations of the season have yet to be
completed. This is due to the NTP Coordinator’s contract being shorter than the specified period of
monitoring required, which was determined by budgetary constraints. |
| URL | http://www.ningalooturtles.org.au/media_reports.html |
