The Citizen Science Turtle Tracking Program continues to raise awareness, this time on the shores of Mauke.
Te Ipukarea Society’s project officer Akeina Tairea had a valuable opportunity to work alongside Apii Mauke students to share more on Te Ipukarea Society’s turtle tracking programme as well as discussing what species of turtles are found in the Cook Islands, where nesting occurs and what threats our turtle population faces today.
The Citizen Science Turtle Monitoring Project first started in 2021, as a community and public driven concept where people could be a part of the data collection and informing movements of turtles around Rarotonga. The Turtle Tracking programme through the use of photographing facial prints of turtles is a cost-effective and community-based approach to better understanding Rarotonga’s turtle population. By collaborating with the general public, the turtle tracking programme allows everyday people to better understand Rarotonga’s turtle population by photographing the facial prints of turtles. This approach can also be seen as a more cost-effective approach to turtle tracking as some satellite tags also used to track turtle movements can cost up to USD3000.
