Marine Conservation Society

The tag was fitted onto Suzie’s shell by the Turks and Caicos Islands Turtle Project, a collaborative initiative between the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) and the University of Exeter in the UK, and the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (DECR) and the School for Field Studies (SFS) in TCI. The project is carrying out research into the turtle populations and turtle fishery in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), and the satellite tagging work aims to reveal the full ranges of the turtle populations found there.

“Suzie’s journey is a remarkable first. She was the first turtle ever to be fitted with a satellite tag in the Turks and Caicos Islands, and her journey has told us for the first time that three of the UK Overseas Territories in the Caribbean, hundreds of kilometres apart, share green turtle populations,” said Peter Richardson, MCS Biodiversity Programme Manager, “We would never have predicted that she would visit three UK Territories in a row without stopping at any of the other countries on the way. Suzie has revealed that each of these Territories has a responsibility to look after their shared turtle resource.”

Each of the territories takes a different approach to the management of their turtle fisheries. The Turks and Caicos Islands’ laws prohibit the take of nesting females and their eggs on the nesting beaches, but allow the capture at sea of any turtle with a shell over 20 inches at any time of the year. In the BVI, the laws prohibit the take of nesting females and their eggs on nesting beaches, but allow the capture at sea of green turtles with shells over 24 inches and hawksbill turtles with shells over 15 inches in length, but only during an open season from December to March. The Government of Anguilla, however, imposed a 15-year, temporary ban on all turtle fishing in 2005 in order to allow their turtle populations to recover.

“Suzie was caught and named by fishermen in South Caicos, the home of fishing in TCI,“ said Wesley Clerveaux, Director of the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources in TCI, “Our project officers on the island are putting up the maps of Suzie’s journey on walls and notice boards each day and doing a great job of keeping the South Caicos locals informed. They are very interested and will stop our officers in the street to ask  ‘Where Suzie at now?!’”.

Suzie's tag only transmits when she surfaces to breath, and satellites orbiting in space receive the signals and calculate her location. The Turks and Caicos Islands Turtle Project team hope to tag a total of six turtles in TCI and will track their migrations remotely via the internet using SEATURTLE.ORG's ground-breaking programme known as STAT. STAT communicates with the satellite system to plot online maps of the turtles movements each day. The daily maps and pictures of Suzie can be viewed online by anyone with internet access at www.mcsuk.org.

The satellite tags used by the Turks and Caicos Islands Turtle Project were funded by People’s Trust for Endangered Species and the British Chelonia Group. Ends

For more information, maps and photographs, please contact:

Peter Richardson, Biodiversity Programme Manager, Marine Conservation Society (MCS), UK. Tel: +44 (0)1989 566017, +44 (0)7793 118383. E-mail: peter@mcsuk.org

Editors’ notes

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) is the UK charity dedicated to the protection of our seas, shores and wildlife.  MCS campaigns for clean seas and beaches, sustainable fisheries, protection of marine life and their habitats, and the sensitive use of our marine resources for future generations.  Through education, community involvement and collaboration, MCS raises awareness of the many threats that face our seas and promotes individual, industry and government action to protect the marine environment. MCS provides information and guidance on many aspects of marine conservation and produces the annual Good Beach Guide (www.goodbeachguide.co.uk), the Good Fish Guide and www.fishonline.org on sustainable seafood, as well as promoting public participation in volunteer projects and surveys such as Beachwatch, Adopt-a-Beach and Basking Shark Watch. MCS was a lead partner on the previous research in TCI, as part of the Turtles in the Caribbean Overseas Territories (TCOT) and Turtles in the UK Overseas Territories (TUKOT) projects. See www.mcsuk.org

The Department of Environment And Coastal Resources (DECR) is the government agency charged with the conservation, protection and management of the Natural Resources of the Turks and Caicos Islands. The Department is divided into two divisions: the Protected Areas Division oversees the management of TCI’s National Parks, Nature Reserves, Sanctuaries and Historic Areas. The Fisheries Division is directly responsible for the management and conservation of fish populations and habitats. See http://www.environment.tc/

The University of Exeter is home to the Marine Turtle Research Group (MTRG), which has established and collaborated with numerous monitoring and research projects around the world, including the UK Overseas Territories. Staff also serve on the IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group, Turtle Implementation Group of the British Action Plan for Marine Turtles and are editors of the international Marine Turtle Newsletter. MTRG was lead partner on the previous research in TCI, as part of the Turtles in the Caribbean Overseas Territories (TCOT) and Turtles in the UK Overseas Territories (TUKOT) projects.  The MTRG are world leaders in satellite tracking marine turtles, having conducted similar projects throughout the world. With the MCS they have satellite tracked female leatherback turtles in Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands, and female green turtles in Sri Lanka. See www.seaturtle.org/mtrg/projects. Tom Stringell’s, the University of Exeter PhD student woring on this project, is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) through a CASE partnership with MCS. NERC is the UK's main agency for funding and managing research, training and knowledge exchange in the environmental sciences. For more info see http://www.nerc.ac.uk/

The School for Field Studies is an international research and educational institution dedicated to applied, community-based environmental studies throughout the world. The Center for Marine Resource Studies (CMRS) in the TCI has been established for 17 years. CMRS staff conduct a range of research projects on South Caicos and in its surrounding waters, with up to 100 students attending the programme each year and providing assistance. CMRS therefore has the manpower and suitable location with which to provide on-the ground assistance with turtle research. See www.fieldstudies.org

SEATURTLE.ORG is a non-profit organisation that is dedicated to providing online resources and solutions in support of sea turtle conservation and research. Their pioneering Satellite Tracking And Analysis Tool (STAT) is a vital component of this project and provides all the maps and data analysis tools. See www.seaturtle.org

The People’s Trust for Endangered Species is a UK-based charity that works to ensure a future for endangered species throughout the world. For more information see www.ptes.org. The British Chelonia Group is a UK-based charity that aims to: 1, Provide chelonia keepers with the support needed to ensure that their captive animals receive quality husbandry; 2, Raise funds from members and from the public, to finance chelonia rescue, research and conservation projects worldwide; 3, Discourage the importation and purchase of wild caught specimens, in favour of responsible captive breeding.

Turks and Caicos Islands hosts breeding and foraging populations of green (Chelonia mydas), hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) and loggerhead (Caretta caretta) turtles. By far the most frequently encountered turtles in TCI are the green and hawksbill turtles, which feed on TCI’s pristine sea grass beds and coral reefs. The IUCN red List of Threatened Species lists greens and loggerheads as endangered and hawksbills as critically endangered. See www.iucnredlist.org/