Annual turtle tagging campaign starts

Posted on Nov 16 2000

Noumea (Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, SPC/PINA Nius Online) – The Association to Safeguard New Caledonia’s nature (ASNNC) has chartered a yacht and set sail to the North of the French territory to monitor and tag the sea turtles.

The 15-meter “Cipac-Beachcomber” yacht left the capital Nouméa on Friday with a dozen ASNNC volunteers onboard for its sixth annual turtle tagging campaign for a duration of two weeks.

The campaign, which coincides with the turtle eggs hatching season, will focus on d’Entrecasteaux reef’s Surprise islands.

“This mission is about tagging a maximum of animals, but also weighing and measuring the nests and eggs temperature”, ASNNC President Jean-Louis d’Auzon said. “Going every year to the same sites, at the same time of year, also allows scientists to make comparative studies. And to see, for instance, how the turtle populations are evolving.

“All those statistics will then be conveyed to the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP)”.

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