South Australian Hardshell Marine Turtles - Tourists, Strandings, or Residents? (aggregated per 1-degree cell)

Keywords: Occurrence, Observation
Temporal coverage: 2023/2023

Original provider:
Aub Strydom

Dataset credits:
Data provider
Aubrey Strydom
Originating data center
<a href="http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/">Satellite Tracking and Analysis Tool (STAT)</a>
Project partner
(In order of contact with Paddy:)* WWO - Wildlife Welfare Organisation (SA) INC: www.wwosa.org.au First agency on beach - secure Paddy and notify SA Marine Parks: 16th March 2023.* SA Marine Parks: https://www.marineparks.sa.gov.au/ Make decision to hold Paddy for Veterinary assessment, and 2 weeks later organize her release. * Dr Anne Fowler, Adelaide Bird &amp; Exotics Vet Centre: https://www.abevc.com.au/  X-Ray Paddy to eliminate possibility of ingested foreign objects and hold her for the night of 16th March 2023.* RSPCA SA:  https://www.rspcasa.org.au/  Transport Paddy to the Zoo on 17th March and to the release site on 31st March.* Zoos SA - Adelaide Zoo: https://www.zoossa.com.au/  17th March: Place her in fresh water for re-hydration, then daily clean seawater, and determine she is not a floater. Examine bloods &amp; feces, and feed and care for Paddy for 2 weeks.* Aub Strydom: www.centralolympicmotel.com.au  31st March deploy &amp; sponsor the KiwiSat202 tracker &amp; ARGOS data.


Abstract:
Hardshell marine turtles - most commonly greens and loggerheads are occasionally found alive or dead on South Australian beaches.Often they are not in good condition, and require rehabilitation.Paddy is an exception, and is fat and healthy.We will find out in June from her DNA test, where she hatched about 35 years ago, and in the meantime her travels will tell us whether she is a local SA resident, or passing through - possibly after nesting last summer.She was found at Middleton Beach 16th March 2023 in a large amount of seaweed, which may have restricted and exhausted her. She arrived at Adelaide Zoo on St Patricks Day 17th March 2023 - hence the name Paddy.She spent the next 2 weeks being examined and cared for by the Vets and Nurses at Adelaide Zoo.After discussion with Marine Science turtle experts in Western Australia and Queensland - the decision was made by Marine Parks SA  to release her on 31st March close to where she was found - Rapid Bay was chosen - away from the weed that may have slowed her swimming.Her satellite tracker was borrowed at very short notice from the Marine Science section of the WA Parks and Wildlife, and has shown her head North up Gulf St Vincent, where she reached the head on 13th April.She basked on mudflats near Port Wakefield on 14th April, and for a second time on an isolated beach 27km north of Port Adelaide's Outer Harbour on 22nd April, after gradually swimming back down from the top of Gulf St Vincent.She spent more than a week from the 24th April in the Port Adelaide estuary, and soon after 1st May swam across the Gulf to be 5km off the coast of the Yorke Peninsula on 5th May and began heading south until 10th May 2023, when she rounded the heel of the Peninsula at Troubridge Shoal Lighthouse, and began swimming west.She followed the southern coast of Yorke Peninsula at about 17km a day, then swam NW crossing 140km of Spencer Gulf in 3 days to get to the coast of Eyre Peninsula on 19th May 2023.A signal on 23rd May gave a temperature of 15.2C, but no location. The cooler temperature suggested that she may have still been in Spencer Gulf, as the offshore waters are currently up to 4C degrees higher - and this proved to be correct when she gave a good ARGOS Class 1 location inside Franklin Harbour Marine Park 7 days later on 26th May 2023, 70km to the north.  This bay is rich in seagrass, and she has plenty to forage on here.

Supplemental information:
<a href="http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/index.shtml?project_id=1388">Visit STAT's project page</a> for additional information.

This dataset is a summarized representation of the telemetry locations aggregated per species per 1-degree cell.