Olive Ridley Turtle Tracking 

Tiwi Land Council

Commonwealth Department of Environment and Heritage

Flash, PHP, MySQL

Endangered turtle migration patterns

To track endangered turtle migration patterns in the Arafura sea; communicate results visually and interactively; communicate WWF’s work in turtle conservation.

Satellite tracking devices fitted to turtles with data being processed and input into web-based database to support mapping tool.  Interactive Flash-based mapping tool developed to plot turtle movements visually.  Additional information about the project, including turtle bios and a diary were also established for the project.

Definitive data/examples of turtle movements; Assess impact of known sites of marine debris; Test effectiveness of turtle tracking techniques; Involve people more in understanding species.  Successful for first 6 weeks, then tracking device became problematic resulting in lost data.  Lack of automatic data logging caused processing delays.

Evaluation of improved tracking methods; Integration of GPS tracking with online mapping tools (e.g. Google Earth).

Better tracking methods required; Automation of data input essential; New online mapping tools now available will reduce investment required to develop future mapping projects.

WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by:

    * conserving the world's biological diversity;
    * ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable; and
    * promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.