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Santhosh Chandran
Doha
In an effort to conserve and boost sea turtle population, Environmental Science Center (ESC) at Qatar University (QU) has installed satellite transmitters for the first time on Halul Island in Qatar.
Halul Island is considered one of the ideal nesting and hatching spots for Hawksbill turtles in Qatar. Athough satellite transmitters were already being used to observe and study sea turtles in Qatar’s coastal areas, this is for the first time such a technology is being deployed on an island.
Environmentalist believe the innovative initiative supported by Qatar Petroleum and Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) will boost the population of Hawksbill turtles in the country.
The nesting beaches on Halul Island are well fenced and guarded by the Halul offshore management.
Speaking to Qatar Tribune, Shafeeq Hamza, researcher at Qatar University, said, “This year, for the first time, the project included the deployment of satellite transmitters on a number of Hawksbill turtles on Halul Island to track their movement and behaviour in this region. The conservation of sea turtles is an essential part of the ecological balance, which is achieved by the survival of the components and elements of the natural environment as they are.”
According to him, this project is considered one of the top-priority projects of QP and QU towards preserving Qatar’s wildlife and a commitment to the nature. Since the beginning of 2002, the two institutions have been studying the Hawksbill turtles in the Qatari coasts, filling the gap in information available to them and working to restore turtle populations and their habitat based on the best scientific evidence.
The project led by Director of the Environmental Science Center Hamad bin Abdulrahman al Saad al Kuwari and supervised by a specialist team led by Jassim Abdulla al Khayat at Environmental Science Center of Qatar University will collect data about turtle’s movements through the transmitters. The study of the Hawksbill turtles this year includes survey on nesting beaches of Fuwairit, Al Mafyar, Al Ghariyah, Al Maroona and Al Huwailah. The beaches were supervised by a scientific team from the Environmental Science Center in cooperation with a team of observers from the Ministry of Municipality and Environment.
In addition, the study will include four Qatari islands, including the faraway islands of Halul and Sharaouh and the nearby islands including Umm Tais and Ras Rukn.
“Human interventions have significantly altered the environmental balance and the changes that resulted from our intervention became more and more influential. But, we hope the initiatives will help to protect this critically endangered species,” Shafeeq Hamza said.
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21/05/2019
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