1
Oman takes measure to protect loggerhead Turtles
Oman has intensified its drive to determine the population of loggerhead turtles that come to Masirah island to lay their eggs.
"Masirah is known to be the world's largest nesting site for the loggerhead turtles, thus we have begun work on counting them," Salim M. Al Saadi, Director of Nature Conservation and Biodiversity at the Ministry of Regional Municipality, Environment and Water Resources, told Gulf News.
Al Saadi said that over 30,000 females come to Masirah to lay their eggs. Loggerheads, the most common sea turtles, are listed as threatened, meaning they could become endangered thus authority in Oman is taking extreme steps to protect them.
"At the moment there's no facility for tourists to visit the turtle watching at Masirah hence we don't encourage people to go there," he said, adding that those interested could go to Ras Al Hadd beach for the purpose.
"We are keen to conserve and protect all species of turtles coming to Oman for nesting," he stressed, adding that they had started tagging turtles.
"We monitor their movement and see how many return in the same season or during subsequent seasons," he pointed out. He also said that they collect data of lifecycle of turtles during their survey.
He said that there were many methods of counting. They follow tracks on the beach in the early hours and monitor burrows.
"A trained eye can easily differentiate the fresh tracks from the old ones," claims, Al Saadi, who travels to Masirah island every week for the survey work.
Ground toothing and aerial survey are some of the other methods used in determining the number of turtles that come for laying eggs at the Masirah island.
Al Saadi praised the efforts of the local rangers at Masirah in protecting the turtles and helping the officials in tagging them.
He also appealed to people not to disturb these turtles at night and avoid using lights if they are in the vicinity.
some positive news
Reply With Quote
Nederland
Bookmarks