Tagging Study on Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) at Thameehla Island, Myanmar

Abstract

Sea Turtle Conservation and Management Activities have been carried out in Myanmar since 1986. Thameehla Island is a major nesting area for green turtles. Inconel tagging on green turtle (Chelonia mydas) experiment was conducted at Thameehla Island, Ayeyarwady Division, Myanmar in 2002. The nesting population and tags recovered were recorded. The results of this study showed that only 21.82 % of the nesting turtles could be tagged during the study period. Out of 280 green turtles that had been tagged at Thameehla Island from 2002 to October 2008 only 58 individuals had re-migrated up to 2008. This indicates that only 20.71 % of green turtles had returned to Thameehla Island. Ninety three frequencies of tagged turtles had re-migrated to Thameehla Island. Out of 63 tagged turtles recovered from 2002 to October 2008, 33 green turtles nested at Thameehla Island. Even though we cannot draw any significant conclusion, the collected data would help understand the basic ecology of sea turtles around Myanmar.