About This Project

All 5 sea turtle species in T&T are considered globally Threatened by the IUCN. Effective conservation of sea turtles requires understanding habitat use, identifying threats and monitoring population change. By engaging citizen scientists through the smartphone app TURT, recreational dive logs submitted via Google forms, and surveys of key stakeholders, we can gather photos of turtles and spatial data cost-effectively to inform the conservation of these species.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Sea turtles continue to face considerable human threats in offshore environments of T&T such as targeted poaching, accidental bycatch and pollution. Understanding sea turtle habitat use and their overlap with human activities in space and time is critical for effective turtle conservation efforts.

In-water studies of sea turtles are resource-intensive and costly, and logistically challenging to execute in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) because of strong currents and low visibility.

Contributions of photos and spatial data from citizen scientists and the application of Photo-ID are proven methods that can provide a cost-effective alternative to gather a high volume of valuable information to inform the conservation and management of these threatened species.

What is the significance of this project?

One of the major constraints to sea turtle conservation and management in T&T is inadequate information on the location of critical foraging habitats. The national Sea Turtle Recovery Action Plan (STRAP) emphasizes the need to employ all means available to improve our understanding of the status and distribution of sea turtle foraging grounds.

We hope to address these gaps in knowledge by capitalising on the presence of stakeholders who frequent coastal habitats where sea turtles may be encountered.

The data gathered will inform management decisions such as identifying critical habitat for targeted conservation and management efforts, identifying significant threats that need to be addressed, and prioritizing research and monitoring efforts.

What are the goals of the project?

We aim to achieve increased participation in a citizen science programme for cost-effective long-term monitoring of sea turtles around T&T. The long-term goal is to improve our understanding of sea turtle habitat use and distribution around T&T and monitor change over time. We will identify critical habitats, estimate relative abundance and monitor trends in abundance. Identification of individual turtles via Photo-ID will allow us to examine movements and residency times. Spatial analysis of turtle hotspots will allow us to identify threats of concern at each location. We will document the effects and scale of threats such as fisheries interactions, pollution and vessel collision. The information gathered will be used to recommend targeted interventions to conserve these species.