Belize's Glover's Reef providing refuge for new generation of sea turtles

[Judi Lynn]

29-Nov-2016

Belize's Glover's Reef providing refuge for new generation of sea turtles

WCS led survey finds more than 1,000 threatened hawksbill sea turtles

Wildlife Conservation Society






NEW YORK (November 29, 2016) --A new generation of threatened hawksbill sea turtles is thriving in the protected waters of Glover's Reef Atoll, Belize, evidence that efforts to protect these and other marine species in one of the world's great barrier reef systems are working, according to WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) and the Belize Fisheries Department.

In a recently published study in the journal Endangered Species Research, scientists have reported that the coral reefs surrounding the atoll are home to more than 1,000 juvenile hawksbill sea turtles- good news for a species.

The authors of the study titled "In-water assessments of sea turtles at Glover's Reef Atoll, Belize" are: Samantha Strindberg, Virginia R. Burns Perez and Janet Gibson of WCS; Robin A. Coleman of WCS and Sawfish Consulting Ltd.; Cathi L. Campbell of WCS and the University of Florida, and Isaias Majil of the Belize Fisheries Department.

Study DOI: doi: 10.3354/esr00765

"The findings of our research show that juvenile hawksbill turtles are thriving at Glover's Reef- extremely good news for this endangered species," said Virginia Burns Perez, WCS Technical Coordinator in Belize. "Strongholds for the species such as this one should become a model for other foraging and nesting areas that are important for the hawksbill turtle."

More:
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/wcs-bgr112916.php

[shenmue]

1. Yay!