GREEN TURTLE RESEARCH

Julia Hazel led a JCU (James Cook University) turtle research project at Low Isles over several years. The first component focused on tracking fine-scale movements of green turtles (Chelonia mydas) using underwater acoustic transmitters and receivers.

This study confirmed the near-continuous presence of the same individual turtles within a small geographic area, a finding particularly relevant for turtle conservation. This also provided the first home range estimates for C.mydas foraging at offshore tropical reefs. Details were published in 2013, see https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/26230/

The second component of JCU's Low Isles work comprised DNA sampling, contributing to a wide-scale study of genetic links between green turtle nesting and foraging grounds. This analysis is still in progress.