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Marine Turtle Newsletter 103:25, © 2004
Announcement of Green Turtle Research Project, Entrecasteaux Reef, New Caledonia
New Caledonia provides various nesting areas for green turtle populations, and the biggest-known nesting population can be found to the extreme north of New Caledonia, 160 miles from the mainland. The region is Entrecasteaux Reef, and the island which is thought to be most active, in terms of nesting, is Ilot Huon (with a peak of ca. 80 nesting females per night). For the 2003/2004 nesting period, research will take place on Ilot Huon for 3 months, from October 12 to January 4. We will look at: population size; seasonal variations in nesting behaviour; nest temperatures and associated investigations into metabolic heating; hatchling sex-ratio estimates; hatchling success; post-nesting satellite tracking (also of 2 loggerheads, in collaboration with George Balazs of the National Marine Fisheries Service); genetic analysis (of greens and hawksbills, in collaboration with Scott Baker of the University of Auckland); diet and heavy-metal analysis (in collaboration with the University of Fiji). Such an extensive project has never been carried out on Ilot Huon, or in New Caledonia itself. This is the initial investigative study, with hopes to extend it into a longer-term study in the future.
The project is funded by: Province Sud, Province Nord and Province des Iles Loyautés (the New Caledonian provincial governments), WWF, Falconbridge, Les grands Casino de Nouméa, SPREP, and NOAA; further funding is still required and currently being sourced. Anyone wishing to get involved in should contact: Vincent Liardet & Nicola Barnfather ASNNC, 12 Bd Vauban, BP 1772, 98845 Noumea (E-mail vincentliardet@nomade.fr or nicbarnfather@ukonline.co.uk).