BonaireTalk Discussion Group
Bonaire Nature & Nature Organizations: Satellite Tracking of 'Tom'
Bonaire Talk: Bonaire Nature & Nature Organizations: STCB (Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire): Satellite Tracking of 'Tom'
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Andrew Uhr (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #116) on Saturday, October 16, 2004 - 10:09 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi folks,

Below is the latest turtle tracking update from STCB. I'm not going to be able to post the daily updates due to time constraints and the fact that STCB may be tracking up to 5 turtles at the same time.

I will try to post highlights and if you are interested, I suggest you follow the journey(s) at the STCB website (see the link below).

Thanks, Andy
**********************************************
Dear Friends,

At long last, it appears that male Hawksbill 'Tom' has finally left Bonaire and is headed out into the Caribbean Sea in a north-northeast direction. His last reported position places him about 10 km off Bonaire and moving the general direction of Puerto Rico.

If you will remember, 'Tom' is the first male sea turtle to be tracked by Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire. A transmitter was placed on him back on July 13 at Ebo's Reef off Klein Bonaire. At that time it was thought that 'Tom' would probably stick around for about a month or so. To our surprise, he stayed for 3 months before starting his departure the other day.

Robert van Dam, the Project Director, is returning to Bonaire on October 19. With his return, STCB plans to place transmitters on 2 to 4 more sea turtles within the coming weeks. 'Tom's progress and the progress of the other sea turtles can be followed on our website; the link is list below. Also, we are now posting updates to the website regarding the number of sea turtle nests on Klein Bonaire, as well as a nest count for Washington-Slagbaai National Park -- look for the link "Nest counter" on our home page.

We will keep you updated as much as possible.

Thanks for your interest and continued supports,

Andy Uhr
Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire

PO Box 492
Kralendijk, Bonaire
Netherlands Antilles

phone (599) 717 2225
cellular (599) 790 0433
email stcb@bonaireturtles.org
website www.bonaireturtles.org

trackingmap

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Carole Baker (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4220) on Saturday, October 16, 2004 - 11:27 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Glad to see Tom is finally on the move! Should be interesting to see where he ends up....looking for the right lady turtle, of course!

Thanks for the update, Andy. It's always good to hear from you and your organization. The best of luck with tagging the next group of turtles...fascinating work! Carole

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cynde (BonaireTalk Deity - Post #12477) on Saturday, October 16, 2004 - 3:05 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Andy, thanks for the update, looking forward to seeing where Tom goes!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Andrew Uhr (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #117) on Wednesday, October 20, 2004 - 12:53 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dear Friends,

'Tom', the male hawksbill, is moving in a more easterly direction and has regained his pace. He covered about 40 km yesterday and is approximately 160 km off Bonaire. His speed is somewhat slower than we have observed with our other tracked sea turtles but that may be due to the fact he is swimming into a current.

'Tom' was first fitted with a satellite transmitter in mid-July and began his journey back to his home feeding grounds on or around October 14.

Robert van Dam, the project director, arrived back on Bonaire last night and brought two additional satellite transmitters with him, bring the number of available transmitters to four. With the end of the 2004 nesting season rapidly approaching, we still hope to fit all four transmitters on turtles. I'll keep you posted of the progress.

Best regards,

Andy Uhr
Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire

PO Box 492
Kralendijk, Bonaire
Netherlands Antilles

phone (599) 717 2225
cellular (599) 790 0433
email stcb@bonaireturtles.org
website www.bonaireturtles.org
map

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Brian (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #696) on Wednesday, October 20, 2004 - 2:04 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Andy

Thanks, the trackings are very interesting. Just shows that there is much - much more that we don't know than what we know. Hopefully this will help educate people that are these are intelligent creatures and not just resources.

regards

Brian

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Yana girl (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #212) on Wednesday, October 20, 2004 - 5:41 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Andy,
I was wondering.....nothing too deep....how much does a turtle tracking device cost?
Yanagirl

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Andrew Uhr (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #118) on Thursday, October 21, 2004 - 8:17 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Yanagirl,

The transmitter itself costs about $1600. The satellite time and support goes for around $1400. Its not an inexpensive undertaking.

Andy

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Andrew Uhr (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #119) on Thursday, October 21, 2004 - 8:18 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dear Friends,

'Tom', the male hawksbill, has turned slightly to the north and is approximately 180 km from Bonaire. He only covered about 20 km yesterday and is traveling at a rate of approximately 30 km per day.

Today we will be going out to find a suitable adult hawksbill to fit with a satellite transmitter.

I'll keep you posted.

Best regards,

Andy Uhr
Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire

PO Box 492
Kralendijk, Bonaire
Netherlands Antilles

phone (599) 717 2225
cellular (599) 790 0433
email stcb@bonaireturtles.org
website www.bonaireturtles.org

map

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Belinda Z (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #201) on Thursday, October 21, 2004 - 9:05 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Andy,

Just wanted to once more say THANKS for the time and effort you put forth to keep us updated. It is GREATLY appreciated!!!

Belinda

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Andrew Uhr (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #120) on Saturday, October 23, 2004 - 11:11 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Dear Friends,

Male hawksbill 'Tom' swam a good 60 km yesterday. He has now returned to his original course, in a north-north-east direction, and may be aiming for the Virgin Islands.

Starting next week we will attempt to find a few more nesting turtles to track, hopefully a hawksbill from Klein Bonaire and possibly a green turtle from Playa Chikitu in Washington Park.

We will keep you posted,

Robert P van Dam

Project Director
Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire

PO Box 492
Kralendijk, Bonaire
Netherlands Antilles

phone (599) 717 2225
cellular (599) 790 0433
email stcb@bonaireturtles.org
website www.bonaireturtles.org
map

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Carole Baker (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4240) on Saturday, October 23, 2004 - 12:36 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks, again, Andy. I love to watch the turtles' progress and it's wonderful to hear that you are still tagging more students to study!

I wish I could swim to the Virgin Islands right now, too! It's getting colder up here in New Jersey every day. LOL.

I think it's wonderful that you and your associates are so dedicated to this project. If I were much younger I would have loved to have entered into a field such as yours.

Thank you to everyone for the hard work, dedication and for keeping us posted as to the progress and the project, in general. Ayo. Carole

 


Visit: The Bonaire WebCams - Current Bonaire images and weather!
The Bonaire Insider - the latest tourism news about Bonaire
The Bonaire Information Site, InfoBonaire
Search Bonaire - Search top Bonaire Web sites


Topics Last Day Last Week Tree View    Getting Started Formatting Troubleshooting    New Messages Keyword Search Contact Moderators Edit Profile Administration