IMIS - Marine Research Groups

Continuing from last years immensely successful project at Boavista, the team will be deploying 5 transmitters this summer at Boavista. Last years results showed that turtles from Cape Verde actually use one of 2 different strategies of migration after nesting. This year we return to investigate these strategies, specifically to determine whether large adult turtles, discovered last year to feed off the coast of Guinea and Sierra Leone, employ a different strategy from smaller adult turtles that feed in the open ocean. The turtles will again be given special Creole names by local students. Creole is the local dialect. The nesting population of Cape Verde has been identified as a priority for conservation along the West Coast of Africa and more information needs to be collected on its natural history, including migratory pathways and foraging areas. This study will investigate these post nesting migratory pathways and foraging grounds and describe diving and depth utilisation patterns.