How turtle tracking works

turtle track sri lanka

how turtle tracking works

Satellite tagging allows us to see where the female turtles go after they leave the nesting beach. This information will be vital when deciding which areas are the best to protect.

In late July and early August 2006 female green turtles were fitted with Sirtrak Kiwisat101 satellite transmitter tags after they nested on Rekawa beach. In June 2007 MCS attached 4 more tags to green turtles at Rekawa and you can track them online at these pages. The tags are attached with an epoxy resin that will eventually degrade after prolonged exposure to sea water. The tags are powered by internal batteries that last on average 10 months, but can last up to 2 years. Often the tags are damaged before this time has elapsed, because at their foraging grounds, green turtles like to sleep in crevices and rub their shells clean on coral overhangs, and so the aerials get snapped and the tags get knocked off. Click here to see a green turtle cleaning its shell at Arkive.org.

Devi tag team (C) Peter Richardson

The tags do not transmit underwater, but the tag's saltwater switch turns on the tag when the tag is exposed to air, i.e. when the turtle surfaces to breathe or when she crawls ashore to nest. The tag then sends out regular and short transmissions that can be received by orbiting satellites. If there are 3 satellites orbiting above the turtle's location when the tag is transmitting, they will calculate the turtle's GPS position and relay the information back to the satellite company Service Argos Inc.

Helen released (C) Peter Richardson Project partner Seaturtle.org have established a highly sophisticated online tracking system called Satellite Tracking and Analysis Tool (STAT). STAT interrogates the Argos database on a daily basis, converting the data to the maps you can access here. For the first time, this pioneering technology allows us each day to follow the migrations of Sri Lanka's endangered green turtles.