Carol the turtle’s amazing ocean voyage goes on |13 October 2008

This was revealed at a recent briefing by David Rowat of the Marine Conservation Society of Seychelles (MCSS).

The project – dubbed Tracking Carol, the hawksbill turtle – is funded by Barclays Bank and draws its support from the Department of Environment, Wildlife Clubs of Seychelles and SeaTurtle.org.

Initially, two turtles were marked with satellite tags. Sadly, one fell victim to poachers but Carol has shown herself to be a survivor.

She was named Carol by a member of the Dolphin Wildlife Club, during one of the school awareness programmes organised under this project.

Barclays funded the purchase of two MK10AF satellite tags, which were deployed in December 2007, and will support the cost of Argos satellite time.

According to Mr Rowat, the latest satellite track from SeaTurtle.org showing Carol’s position on September 11 is a wonder of nature.

“While the tag was expected to last only three months due to the tag setting and its associated battery life, Carol is still transmitting 10 months on,” he said.

“She has spent the past two months off the coast of Madagascar, bringing into question the previous school of thought that suggested hawksbill turtles remained on the Seychelles plateau between nesting seasons.”

The tracking of Carol is a project that incorporates side issues to stimulate awareness on turtle conservation.

In April this year the MCSS, together with Barclays Bank and Nature Seychelles (Wildlife Clubs), organised an art competition for schools.

Prizes were presented on Earth Day, with sponsorship from the MCSS, Barclays Bank, Nature Seychelles, the Save Our Seas Foundation and Underwater Centre.

During the same month, the MCSS joined hands with the same partners involved in the tracking and organised a competition to name the turtle.

The name Carol was drawn during the Earth Day activities, and a prize was presented to the winner, Jessica Marengo. 

A third competition, now under way, was launched with schools using the resources of SeaTurtle.org to learn about sea turtles and track Carol’s progress. Contestants have been asked to complete a project activity form, which has been submitted for judging.
 
As a side event, the MCSS has recently set up a turtle blog to raise public awareness on turtles. The site http://seychelles-turtles.blogspot.com/ features updates on the MCSS/Barclays project and updates of the tracks from SeaTurtle.org.

In addition, the MCSS is keen to launch a local awareness campaign to address the problem of turtle poaching in Seychelles and, together with partners, is exploring funding support possibilities.

“Tracking Carol the hawksbill turtle is generating a lot of interest among the youth and especially Wildlife Club members,” said Mr Rowat.

“Nature Seychelles is proud to be associated with it, and Colibri Wildlife Club and an ICT class at Plaisance School, Vev Wildlife Club from La Digue Secondary School, Mahogany from Grand Anse Mahe and Banyan Star from Anse Etoile School have all shown great interest in taking part in this turtle tracking project and competition.

“They have produced documents for further judging and for a public display at the National Library.”

The judges for this latest competition will be Assuntha Julienne of the Ministry of Education and a Wildlife Club leader, Colleen Morel of Barclays Bank, Elke Talma of the MCSS, Sedrick Nicette of the Department of Environment and Terence Vel from Nature Seychelles.

There will be awards for the children and a special award for the group leaders of the tracking project to recognise their contribution in leading the students to promote turtle conservation in Seychelles.

The prizes will include trips to inner islands, a scenic helicopter flight around Mahe, dinner for two, a day trip on ferries, T-shirts, subscription to MCSS newsletters and certificates.

Contributed