Iniciativa Carey del Pacifico Oriental - ICAPO - Eastern Pacific Hawksbill Initiative

NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center

Dataset credit

Data provider
NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center
Originating data center
Satellite Tracking and Analysis Tool (STAT)
Project partner
A multi-national partnership including Fundacion Zoologica de El Salvador, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnologia de la Universidad de El Salvador, Proyecto Carey! del Pacifico Oriental, NOAA - Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Ocean Conservancy, Comite de Desarrollo Empresarial y Medio Ambiente de Puerto Parada, Centro Tecnologico par Estudios del Mar No. 14, Pro Peninsula, Grupo Tortuguero and Equilibrio Azul.
Project sponsor or sponsor description
Our Eastern Pacific Hawksbill team would like to thank the following individuals and organizations (logos) for their support of this project:
- Wally y Sheila Nichols
- Carlos Enrique Araujo
- Enrique Melendez
- Leonor Sardihna
- Michael Carey
- Dane Whittington

Contacts

RoleNameOrganization 
Primary contact Jeffrey Seminoff NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center
Data entry Michael Coyne seaturtle.org

Citation

Abstract

Please visit www.hawksbill.org for more information about efforts to research and protect hawksbill turtles in the eastern Pacific Ocean

Make a list of the world's most endangered sea turtle populations. Is the eastern Pacific hawksbill on it? If not, it's no surprise. Essentially nothing is known of the biology, distribution, abundance, or conservation needs of this enigmatic population. Until recently, virtually nothing had been done to study what remains of these animals in the eastern Pacific, hunted nearly into extinction long before the start of the modern sea turtle conservation movement.

In 2005, the IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group recognized the lack of information about this population, listing it among global-scale critical research and conservation needs. According to communities and conservation projects in the region, some hawksbills do still remain in the eastern Pacific, but until recently, many thought it was too late to save hawksbills in this region. However, during the First Workshop on Eastern Pacific Hawksbills held in El Salvador in July 2008, it became clear that there were still a few nesting strongholds for the species in the region and that it was not too late to recover hawksbill turtles in the Eastern Pacific.

Boding well for the turtles, more hawksbills are being reported now than were reported several decades ago a result of the increased protection afforded to sea turtles in the early 1990s, many local fishers believe. As explained by Juan de la Cruz, a former turtle hunter from a small fishing village on the shores of the Gulf of California, Mexico, thirty years ago it was almost impossible to see a hawksbill, because hunting of the species was rampant. Once the laws were established, the market for penca [tortoise shell] died, and seeking hawksbills became too risky. If people wanted to eat turtle meat, they trapped other turtles that were easier to capture.

In spite of these recent discoveries and increased in-water hawksbill sightings, Jose Ovidio Perdomo, a life-long sea turtle egg collector turned conservationist, still has concerns about nesting hawksbills in the Biosphere Reserve of the Bahia de Jiquilisco, El Salvador, Although we are receiving hawksbills, their numbers have decreased significantly during my 40 years in the 'tortugueada' (search for sea turtle eggs), owed primarily to the extraction of eggs for consumption, beach development, and most recently, the use of explosives (as a fishing technique). I fear that if we don't change our path, my grandchildren will not know the hawksbills.

Many questions remain, but the mysteries of this forgotten population are beginning to reveal themselves. By shedding light on the biology and conservation status of the eastern Pacific hawksbill, we will provide critical information for local and regional conservation management plans that will ultimately determine the feasibility of the turtles recovery in this region of the world, hopefully transforming their vanishing act into a comeback.ââ,¬Â¨Ã¢â,¬Â¨

For video and media coverage of this multi-national collaborative effort go to:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kX-5-VzPNUU ââ,¬Â¨
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iVVM5Zg0Nqo ââ,¬Â¨
http://www.laprensagrafica.com/nacion/1104272.asp ââ,¬Â¨Ã¢â,¬Â¨
http://tinyurl.com/6comtd> http://tinyurl.com/6comtd> http://tinyurl.com/6comtd
http://www.numerounoonline.com/nota.php?id=3226
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlfnXH-qa1g

Purpose

N/A

Supplemental information

Visit STAT's project page for additional information.

References

Attributes

Overview

Attributes described below represent those in the original dataset provided by the provider.
Only minimum required attributes are visible and downloadable online. Other attributes may be obtained upon provider's permission.

Attributes in dataset

Attribute (table column)Description
prognumProgram number
tag_idPTT ID
lcLocation class
iqQuality indicator
dir1Dir 1
nb_mesNumber of messages received
big_nb_mesdefinition not provided
best_levelBest signal strength in dB
pass_durationPass duration in seconds
nopcNumber Of Plausibility Checks successful (from 0-4)
calcul_freqCalculated frequency
altitudeAltitude used for location calculation
sensorsSensors
speciesSpecies name
project_idSTAT Project ID
lc_filterParameters to location filtering
speed_filterParameters to speed filtering
distance_filterParameters to distance filtering
topo_filterParameters to topo filtering
time_filterParameters to time filtering
angle_filterParameters to angle filtering
life_stageLife stage of the animal
genderGender of the animal
wetdryWet or dry
wetdry_filterParameters to Wet or dry filterint
obs_datetimeDate and time (local time zone)
timezone_hTime difference from UTC
OBIS-SEAMAP ID1336
Seabirds0
Marine mammals0
Sea turtles18,227
Rays and sharks0
Other species0
Non spatial0
Non species0
Total18,227
Date, Begin2008-06-24
Date, End2020-10-22
Temporal prec.111111
Latitude-3.51 - 47.68
Longitude-126.58 - -50.01
Coord. prec.3 decimal digits
PlatformTag
Data typeTelemetry location
TracklinesYES (ID: 1337)
Traveled (km)94,143
Travel hours196,911
Contr. throughSatellite Tracking and Analysis Tool
Registered2015-11-24
Updated2024-03-01
StatusPublished
Sharing policy Permission required
Shared with SWOT
OBIS*
GBIF (via DOI)*
* Aggregated summary
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