Field Work with Turtles
Name: Samanta Zbinden
Country: Canada
Program: Coastal Management Program
Projects: Sea Turtle ID + Sea Turtles and Snorkelers' Interaction Behavioural Study
IN HER OWN WORDS
Why CEA
I decided to volunteer with CEA after being accepted into the marine ecosystem field course offered by the Ecosystem Field Study program (EFS). I became aware that the EFS was partners with CEA and students could volunteer or intern with the center after completion of the course. I recently graduated from the University of Calgary and had had been wanting to gain experience doing work in a marine environment, therefore I decided that taking part in the field course and eventually volunteering at CEA to be the perfect opportunity to do just that.
An overview of the research
My month-long volunteer experience with CEA involved two main areas of focus. First, with the expansion of the Green Sea Turtle identification catalogue in Akumal Bay, and second, the continuation of a behavioural study on Green Sea Turtle behavioural changes in response to tourists’ presence and actions.
The main goal of the Sea Turtles and Snorkelers’ Interaction project is to assess the impact of the ever growing tourism inside the bay on the daily activities of the turtles, in particular the change in the behaviours of the resident turtle population in the bay. The hope of this study over time is to gain further insight into specific negative aspects of turtle watching tours, in order to provide scientific-based results and advice for the creation of potential regulations to prevent long-term negative effects on the resident turtles and the overall health of the bay.
On a daily basis On a daily basis I would head out to the bay with Nancy Aurgüelles, a CEA staff member with the Sea Turtle Protection Program. We would first enter the water, starting at different entry points each time, to scan the bay for turtles for approximately one to two hours. Once a turtle was located we would take pictures for identification purposes for the work on the Green Sea Turtle Catalogue.
With respect to the behavioural study, once we found a turtle, we would observe for 20 minutes and note all behaviours from the turtle and nearby tourists. The remaining time was spent out of the water inputting the day’s data and comparing pictures against the current catalogue and images to detect any new turtles or changes to known turtles.
Additionally, throughout the hours we spent in the bay, there were other things that were noted, including the prevalence of debilitating fibropapilloma tumors. Other aspects that we noticed and noted was the seagrass preference in the turtle’s diet and social or grouping interactions among the turtles.
Final thoughts
Overall, I really enjoyed my time volunteering with CEA. Akumal Bay is such a beautiful place and with so much biodiversity, it is worthy of good management practices for it to be sustained. I hope CEA continues its monitoring projects, including the work on monitoring Green Sea Turtles, and helps in the creation of regulations based on science, which will in the long-run benefit the health of the bay and ultimately the local community as well.
