A dedicated team of volunteers has completed another round of research into marine turtles on Lady Musgrave Island.

Jim Buck and his wife Annie co-ordinated a highly successful data collection project for the 2009 /2010 turtle nesting season, continuing a job they started in 1987.

"Our research and monitoring activities, interaction with the public and other data collection activities were undertaken successfully, delivering a robust annual data set", Mr Buck said.

Lady Musgrave Island is one of a number of coral cays which make up the Capricorn Bunker Group in the southern Great Barrier Reef.  Whilst this moderately sized coral cay supports predominantly Green turtle nesting, it also hosts a small nesting population of Loggerhead turtles.  Monitoring of the Lady Musgrave nesting populations contributes to the broader annual 'turtle nesting population census' undertaken by the Queensland Turtle Conservation Project, part of the Department of Environment and Resource Management and is supported by the BMRG.

'On-site' activities associated with the Lady Musgrave Island project span a four week period in December - January at the peak of the nesting season, and a further eleven days at the end of February to coincide with the calculated corresponding peak of hatchling emergence. 

Whilst this season's Green turtle nesting numbers were smaller than the previous season, Jim said that annual Green turtle nesting population sizes may fluctuate from season to season in response to the effects of weather patterns. 

“However, the annual size of Loggerhead nesting populations are generally more consistent from year to year, so the large increase in Loggerhead numbers this season came as a very pleasant surprise.”

This season, the location of a number of nests were recorded as they were being laid, allowing the nests to be located when the team returned in February to assess hatching success rates.  This approach provided the project with a new insight into the rookery's hatching success rates, and also highlighted the potential for sand in some parts of the island to move during the 8 week egg incubation period.

 "Whilst we have only been undertaking the 'February' work for the last five years, it has provided us with a much better understanding of turtle nesting at this rookery", Jim said.

The surrounding reef supports resident populations of Green, Loggerhead and Hawksbill turtles.  Good weather in the last two weeks of December allowed a pleasing amount of data to be collected from resident turtles this season.  This data provides an appreciation of the growth rates of juvenile and sub-adult turtles.

Whilst on site, the team also collected data for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority's 'Bleachwatch' project.  Many groups along the Queensland coast and the associated reef systems collect data which assists Bleachwatch to monitor and better understand coral bleaching. 
"This is a very complimentary activity for our team, as it provides an insight into the broader marine environment, and the many influences on it," Jim said. 

Again this season, Jim praised the dedication of the 'on-site' volunteers contributing to the project, and the other folk and organisations that provided support.

"Our monitoring includes both day and night data collection activities; hence our volunteers need to be very dedicated to work in the island's challenging environment.  The project relies not only on the 'on-site' volunteers, but also the support of the people behind the scenes,” he said.

 

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