Scheme deters poachers tracking turtle by satellite |24 January 2008

Poachers killed one of the turtles and damaged the equipment.
Meeting to review data gathered since last year, some of the researchers said last week that real time information available on the internet showing exactly where the turtle was might have led to the culprits finding the animal, which was in its nesting season.

They were assured, however, that location data on the remaining turtle that is being posted on the internet is a little out of date so as not to facilitate easy tracking of the animal.

Police have nevertheless recovered the poachers’ boat, spear and vehicle used by the criminals but are yet to apprehend the culprits, said David Rowatt, chairman of the Marine Conservation Society of Seychelles (MCSS) which is leading the study.

This transpired at the Roche Caiman headquarters of Nature Seychelles where Barclays Barclays Bank officials handed two computer sets to wildlife club members who are tracking the movements of the remaining turtle as part of their learning and sensitization programme.

Barclays managing director, Frank Hoareau, said he was disappointed at the loss of the transmitter which his bank had financed at the cost of $5,000 apiece.

“It is also sad to have lost the information gathered in the period immediately before the turtle was killed and the equipment smashed,” Mr Hoareau said, expressing the hope that other donors will sponsor new transmitters.

Mr Rowatt said that preliminary findings show that the turtles go on shore during spawning and later swim away.
“We suspect that what we call ‘Seychelles turtles’ probably travel to the east coast of Africa and if that is the case it means maybe they spend part of their lives in countries where different conservation measures are in force,” he said.

Seychelles banned turtle poaching in 1994 and made the fact widely known when President James Michel led 82 participants of the 1998 Miss World beauty pageant in dumping confiscated turtle shells in a deep part of the Indian Ocean. Mr Michel was at that time the Vice-President and also the Minister responsible for Environment.

The monitoring programme is being conducted by Nature Seychelles and Wildlife Clubs of Seychelles in partnership with MCSS.
“The objective of the project is to get club members involved in turtle monitoring using the internet, collecting data to
understand turtle movement and the importance of conserving this endangered species,” wildlife club officials said, as presentations on the programme were made.

Among those who attended the event were Special Adviser on Environment in the Office of the President, Dr Rolph Payet, representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, of the Ministry of Education, wildlife clubs members and selected Barclays Bank staff.