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40 loggerhead turtles released
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Posted on May 13 2005
HONOLULU, Hawaii—The Japanese training vessel Aichu Maru docked in Honolulu Thursday morning after successfully releasing 40 two-year-old juvenile loggerhead turtles each with a small satellite tag.
The turtles were released near the international dateline at 32 degrees north, 176 degrees east, on May 4. The area of release has been identified as a “hot spot” pelagic nursery from earlier satellite tracking research. The satellite tracking of the movements and behavior of the 40 recently released turtles in relation to oceanic features is expected to last from 6 to 14 months.
The North Pacific loggerhead population nests exclusively in Japan and is a threatened species of concern for fishery interaction in the high seas. Loggerheads are known to span the Pacific, from Southeast Asia to Baja, California.
The loggerhead project represents the next step in several years of collaboration between Japan and the U.S. Pacific Islands and Southwest Fisheries Science Centers, the Joint Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Research at the University of Hawaii, and the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council.
A recent trip to Japan by George Balazs, team leader for the PIFSC Marine Turtle Research Program, included work at the Nagoya Public Aquarium to properly carry out all plans in cooperation with counterpart researchers to accomplish the “hotspot” release. Marc Rice and three high school students from the Hawaii Preparatory Academy also traveled to Nagoya to assist with this work. After the satellite tags were attached over a four-day period, the turtles were transported by truck on a one-hour drive to the Port of Gamagori, where they were loaded on board the Aichu Maru. Hundreds of younger students from the Miya Fisheries High School were present for the special farewell to the turtles. Hitoshi Nakamura from the Nagoya Public Aquarium accompanied the turtles as a caretaker specialist.
