Crab Island Flatback Turtles

The Crab Island Flatback Sea Turtle Research project has been successful in 2008 in collecting critical data to aid in the conservation of one of the world’s most important nesting rookeries and one of Cape York’s most significant wildlife resources. It has also identified effective and practical monitoring protocols for ongoing assessments. Up until now, Crab Island has remained relatively unstudied and the development of conservation strategies has been uninformed for the Vulnerable flatback turtle because of data deficiencies. The reason for the lack of attention on Crab Island is unclear; despite the fact that it is of world significance for sea turtle conservation it’s status remains unknown. It is believed a number of reasons including remoteness, logistical difficulties, island size, turtle numbers, the presence of large crocodiles, as well as factors peculiar to flatbacks which make traditional research difficult, have lead to Crab Island’s flatbacks being unmonitored or unstudied.
Funding made available through the Cape York Peninsula Development Association has enabled the first comprehensive assessment of Crab Island. During 2008 two seasonal studies and one major nesting study were undertaken. This follows a scoping study in 2007.
A number of highlights for the season are summarised. This comprehensive assessment has allowed for the identification and documentation of a number of nesting biology factors which have been previously unknown.
This includes:
• Identification of the peak period of nesting on Crab Island;
• A detailed description of the nightly nesting patterns on the island;
• Analysis of the cues initiating nesting;
• Identification of seasonal nesting numbers and population size;
• Identification of nightly nesting numbers;
• Identification of inter-season renesting intervals;
• Identification of remigration intervals;
• Identification of inter-nesting habitat around Crab Island;
• Identification of some key feeding areas supplying the Crab Island Rookery;
• Identification of migration pathways;
• Collection of morphometric data on eggs, hatchlings and adult turtles;
• Identification of reproductive output.

The full report for this project can be found in the following Crab Island 2008 Report.