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Western Australian Loggerheads - Dirk Hartog 2015-2016
Citation
Aubrey Strydom, 2016. Western Australian Loggerheads - Dirk Hartog 2015-2016. Data downloaded from OBIS-SEAMAP (http://seamap.env.duke.edu/dataset/1366) on yyyy-mm-dd originated from Satellite Tracking and Analysis Tool (STAT; http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/index.shtml?project_id=1150). https://marineinfo.org/id/dataset/5595
Contact: Strydom, Aubrey ; Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, more

Access data
Archived data
Availability: Creative Commons License This dataset is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Notes: Only data aggregated per 1-degree cell are available through OBIS. For access to additional data, the provider needs to be contacted.

Description
The nesting range of loggerhead turtles in Western Australia extends from Dirk Hartog Island in the south to the Muiron Islands in the north, with important rookeries in between, including Gnaraloo Bay, Cape Farquhar, Janes Bay and Bungelup in the Ningaloo Marine Park.

Satellite tagging at Dirk Hartog Island is part of a broader coordinated program in the 2015/16 season to understand inter-nesting movements, post-nesting migration, identify foraging grounds and potential threats across their entire nesting range in Western Australia with loggerhead turtles also tagged at South Muiron Island and Gnaraloo.
Supplemental information: Visit STAT's project page for additional information. This dataset is a summarized representation of the telemetry locations aggregated per species per 1-degree cell. more

Dirk Hartog Island, covering 63,000 hectares is Western Australia’s largest island, forming a protective barrier to the shallow waters of Shark Bay. The Loggerhead turtle rookery at Turtle Bay on the north coast of the island is Western Australia’s largest and is of international significance. The Island and Bay are part of the Shark Bay World Heritage Property protected for its significant ongoing geological and biological processes and habitats for a number of threatened species.

To the north lies the Ningaloo Reef, Australia’s largest fringing coral reef, boasting spectacular coral formations, abundant fishes and species with special conservation significance such as turtles, whale sharks, dugongs, whales and dolphins. Ningaloo Marine Park was first gazetted in 1987 to recognise and protect this diverse biological hotspot with amendments made to park boundaries on 30 November 2004 to encompass the whole of the Ningaloo Reef. The Department of Parks and Wildlife is the primary manager of these reserves.

Dirk Hartog Island, Shark Bay, the Muiron islands and the beaches of the Ningaloo coast provide an important habitat and relatively undisturbed nesting area for the loggerhead (Caretta caretta), green (Chelonia mydas) and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) turtles between November and March each year. Flatback and leatherback turtles have also been recorded foraging occasionally along this coast.

In recognition of these important and diverse reserves, the Ningaloo Reef and surrounding area was bestowed the highest level of international recognition with its inscription on the World Heritage List for its natural beauty and biological diversity in June 2011. The Ningaloo World Heritage Area encompasses 604,500ha in total, including the Muiron Islands Marine Management Area, Ningaloo Marine Park, Cape Range National Park, the Learmonth Air Weapons Range and Bundegi and Jurabi Coastal Parks.

Scope
Themes:
Biology > Reptiles
Keywords:
Marine/Coastal, ISEW, Australia, Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758)

Geographical coverage
ISEW, Australia [Marine Regions]

Temporal coverage
21 January 2016 - 11 December 2016

Taxonomic coverage
Caretta caretta (Linnaeus, 1758) [WoRMS]

Parameter
Occurrence of biota

Contributors
Strydom, Aubreydata creator
Duke University; Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, more

Related datasets
Published in:
OBIS-SEAMAP: Spatial Ecological Analysis of Megavertebrate Populations, more

Dataset status: Completed
Data type: Data
Data origin: Research: field survey
Metadatarecord created: 2017-01-27
Information last updated: 2017-01-27
All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy