Dakshin Foundation
The Sea Turtle Directory
Country: India
Organization / Project Name: Monitoring green turtles and seagrass meadows in the Lakshadweep Islands
Website: https://www.dakshin.org/monitoring-green-turtles-chelonia-mydas-and-seagrass-meadows-in-the-lakshadweep-islands/
Email: kshanker@gmail.com
Description: Intense herbivory by green turtles in the Lakshadweep Islands has affected the primary productivity and structure of seagrass meadows impacting the associated food webs. Dakshin Foundation started monitoring turtle densities along with seagrass densities, distribution, and composition in the islands of Kalpeni, Kadmat, and Agatti in 2011. The aim of the project is to understand green turtle distributions and their responses to changes in seagrass densities and distributions. In addition, we also seek to examine the movement ecology of green turtles to understand their foraging patterns. We began a citizen science photo-identification project in 2019 to track the movements of individual green turtles over the long term. We are also supporting the development of an indigenous and inexpensive radio telemetry system to study green turtle movement patterns and foraging strategies.
Species of focus: Green turtles (Chelonia mydas)
Volunteer program: No
Tourist activities (Y/N): No
Primary Areas of Work: Environmental education/community outreach, In water research
Instagram Profile: https://www.instagram.com/seaturtlesofindia_/