Sea turtles as ocean ambassadors: opportunities and challenges
Sea turtles are ocean migrants that nest on the same beaches where they were born but forage on reefs and oceanic waters great distances away. Movement between these locations is sometimes years or even decades apart. Because of these broad-ranging movements and the many countries, they visit throug...
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ftsealsdc:vital:51136 2024-09-15T18:32:14+00:00 Sea turtles as ocean ambassadors: opportunities and challenges Nel, Ronel 20 pages http://hdl.handle.net/10948/55258 http://vital.seals.ac.za:8080/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:51136 English eng Nelson Mandela University Faculty of Science Inaugural lectures http://hdl.handle.net/10948/55258 vital:51136 http://vital.seals.ac.za:8080/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:51136 Nelson Mandela University Sea turtles -- South Africa Sea turtles -- Conservation f-sa text Lectures ftsealsdc 2024-07-29T23:41:46Z Sea turtles are ocean migrants that nest on the same beaches where they were born but forage on reefs and oceanic waters great distances away. Movement between these locations is sometimes years or even decades apart. Because of these broad-ranging movements and the many countries, they visit throughout their lives, effective conservation can only be achieved through international cooperation. However, wherever and whenever sea turtles come ashore, they fascinate people. Watching a sea turtle nest is like looking back through a window into deep time. This appearance and disappearing act of sea turtles create an enigma that elicits a multitude of disciplinary, inter-, and intradisciplinary teaching, research and engagement opportunities ranging from archaeology to social sciences, including tourism, biology and ecology, conservation and policy. In these different spheres, I operated over the last two decades to understand sea turtles, their biology and behaviour to affect their conservation. The biggest question I have pursued in my research career is to understand why the leatherback sea turtle population (Dermochelys coriacea) nesting in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa, has not increased despite decades of protection. Another sea turtle species, namely loggerheads (Caretta caretta) nesting in the same area, experiencing similar conditions, has responded positively to conservation. Through two decades of research evaluating the intrinsic and extrinsic population drivers, such as reproductive output, age to maturity, natality and mortality, it seems evident that the population dynamics of sea turtles is much more complicated than what a simple population model would predict. From the literature, it is clear that other species, like the Mediterranean monk seal, red knot (a sandpiper) and other coastal species, are suffering a similar fate, i.e., lack of recovery despite conservation. These trends suggest that these species have become refugees in their own habitat. Marine habitats are transformed ... Lecture Red Knot SEALS Digital Commons (South East Academic Libraries System, South Africa) |
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Sea turtles -- South Africa Sea turtles -- Conservation f-sa |
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Sea turtles -- South Africa Sea turtles -- Conservation f-sa Nel, Ronel Sea turtles as ocean ambassadors: opportunities and challenges |
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Sea turtles -- South Africa Sea turtles -- Conservation f-sa |
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Sea turtles are ocean migrants that nest on the same beaches where they were born but forage on reefs and oceanic waters great distances away. Movement between these locations is sometimes years or even decades apart. Because of these broad-ranging movements and the many countries, they visit throughout their lives, effective conservation can only be achieved through international cooperation. However, wherever and whenever sea turtles come ashore, they fascinate people. Watching a sea turtle nest is like looking back through a window into deep time. This appearance and disappearing act of sea turtles create an enigma that elicits a multitude of disciplinary, inter-, and intradisciplinary teaching, research and engagement opportunities ranging from archaeology to social sciences, including tourism, biology and ecology, conservation and policy. In these different spheres, I operated over the last two decades to understand sea turtles, their biology and behaviour to affect their conservation. The biggest question I have pursued in my research career is to understand why the leatherback sea turtle population (Dermochelys coriacea) nesting in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa, has not increased despite decades of protection. Another sea turtle species, namely loggerheads (Caretta caretta) nesting in the same area, experiencing similar conditions, has responded positively to conservation. Through two decades of research evaluating the intrinsic and extrinsic population drivers, such as reproductive output, age to maturity, natality and mortality, it seems evident that the population dynamics of sea turtles is much more complicated than what a simple population model would predict. From the literature, it is clear that other species, like the Mediterranean monk seal, red knot (a sandpiper) and other coastal species, are suffering a similar fate, i.e., lack of recovery despite conservation. These trends suggest that these species have become refugees in their own habitat. Marine habitats are transformed ... |
format |
Lecture |
author |
Nel, Ronel |
author_facet |
Nel, Ronel |
author_sort |
Nel, Ronel |
title |
Sea turtles as ocean ambassadors: opportunities and challenges |
title_short |
Sea turtles as ocean ambassadors: opportunities and challenges |
title_full |
Sea turtles as ocean ambassadors: opportunities and challenges |
title_fullStr |
Sea turtles as ocean ambassadors: opportunities and challenges |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sea turtles as ocean ambassadors: opportunities and challenges |
title_sort |
sea turtles as ocean ambassadors: opportunities and challenges |
publisher |
Nelson Mandela University |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10948/55258 http://vital.seals.ac.za:8080/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:51136 |
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Red Knot |
genre_facet |
Red Knot |
op_relation |
Inaugural lectures http://hdl.handle.net/10948/55258 vital:51136 http://vital.seals.ac.za:8080/vital/access/manager/Repository/vital:51136 |
op_rights |
Nelson Mandela University |
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1810473976106844160 |