Kumiko is Hauling Tail

Kumiko is now not wasting any time leaving the Mariana Islands and is continuing to head West.

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Kumiko leaves Saipan

Kumiko's most recent satellite position reports.
Image courtesy NOAA/George Balazs

Looks like Kumiko is finally on the move!!! Seven nests at Bird Island Beach and she’s on her way…

This weekend was very busy-- upon returning from a week of in-water capture surveys in Rota on Friday night we had the Wing Beach nester return, Saturday night was Magas and Limwamway, and Sunday night was Kumiko.  We had 5 hawksbills captured in Rota in 3 days (we had only captured a total of 6  since 2006!) 

Mark Michael assists with one of  five
Hawksbill Turtles captured during recent
in-water capture surveys on Rota.*

All satellite tagged turtles (and the Wing beach turtle) are safe and ok, their stainless steel wires are intact, however the plastic covering at the base of 2 of them has taken a beating.  I hope they leave soon before the wires are sheered.

Mini TAGS volunteer wows
over one of Kumiko's babies.*

We also did our first nest inventory on Kumiko's first nest the Sunday before we left for Rota and rescued 3 hatchlings while TAGS volunteers watched.  Hatching success for this one was 70.5% and emergence success was 65.4%.

Report Provided by Tammy Summers

*Remember, pictured volunteers were supervised by federally-permitted staff of the DLNR Sea Turtle Program. 

Track update - June 13, 2011

Magas


Kumiko

Limwamway on her way...

"Limwamway" (beautiful in Carolinian) female green turtle satellite tagged June 15, 2011 at Tank beach. All activities permited via USFWS and NMFS federal permits - this is why folks can get so close! Without a permit one must give turtles space to nest undisturbed. Tank beach has a history of high poaching pressure, so this tagging event is not only a testiment to the CNMI sea turtle program's hard work, but of the community's committment to conservation.

Kagman High School Students and Limwaway, excited for her release...


Kagman High School Marine Biology Club watching tag application

Third sea turtle tagged in CNMI

Kagman High School Students with Limwamway.

Hi all,
I am happy to announce that the 3rd and final sat tag has been deployed (tonite
6/15) on a turtle named Limwamway (beautiful in Carolinian) by Kagman High
School Marine Biology Club members.  Kagman High School is very near to Tank
Beach (where this turtle nested) so it made sense to include the students thatlive so close to this beach in this exciting event (see attached photos)!  KSPNTV news channel was there to capture the occasion and interview the students sostay tuned to the 6:00 news the next few nights.  This turtle was equipped witha larger tag (model TAM 4510) than the other 2 turtles, so her battery life willhopefully last longer than the others allowing for more locations/info to be
gathered.  The tag ID # was 25313, serial #: 646372.
This was nesting event # 4 for Limwamway and the CNMI DLNR Sea Turtle Program wish her safe travels in the near future! Cheers and thanks to everyone who made this project possible,
Tammy  

Turtle Outreach

While we wait for our turtles to begin their migrations, here a few images of recent outreach efforts...


DLNR staff show school children a juvenile green turtle on Managaha Island


Joe Ruak show the differences between green and hawksbill turtles to school children


Divers and tourist at the right place, right time to observe DLNR field activities and get first hand information


Students of Whispering Palms School campout education outreach event


NOAA Contractor Tammy Summers distributes sea turtle posters and coloring books to Oleai Elementary School (Home of the Turtle) students

June 8 track update

Looks like both turtles have yet to leave CNMI waters. Kumiko remains close to Bird Head beach, and Magas also lingering of southern Laolau bay. We presume both turtles may be intending to nest again, but time will tell... Importantly, however, looks like we may have identified some important inter-nesting habitats.

The next candidate... Limwamway

Limwamway "beautiful" in Carolinian, named by Kagman High School Marine Biology Club, is our next female green turtle that will receive a satellite transmitter after she lays her final nest for the season.

Photos - satelite track deployments

All photos property of CNMI DLNR work allowed under FWS and NMFS permits.


Laulau bay female green turtle released with satellite tag.

Field crew Joe Ruak, Jessy Hapdei, and Tammy Summers.

Great work team!!

Joe Ruak and Jessy Hapdei attaching the tag and recording data.

June 2 track update

Green sea turtles Kumiko and Magas are on the move! Here is their June 2, 2011 satellite track update. 2007 deployments from Guam resulted in migrations to Japan and Philippines. Where will these turtles go?