Monitoring green turtle population dynamics in Shoalwater Bay 2000-2004

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) and the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency (QEPA) are pleased to publish this report on the monitoring of a foraging ground population for the southern Great Barrier Reef green turtle genetic stock

Inter- and intra-beach thermal variation for Green Turtle nests on Ascension Island, South Atlantic

Nest temperatures for green turtles (Chelonia mydas) nesting on Ascension Island, South Atlantic (7°57\u27S 14°22\u27W), were examined. Temperature probes were placed into nests on two beaches, Long Beach (26 nests) and North East Bay (8 nests). Within these beaches there was relatively little thermal variation (SD of nest temperature was 0.32°C for Long Beach and 0.30°C for North East Bay). To examine inter-beach thermal variation temperature probes were buried at 55 cm on 12 beaches. Inter-beach thermal variation was large and was related to the beach albedo with the darkest beach (albedo, 016) being 4.2°C warmer than the lightest coloured beach (albedo, 0.73)

Inter- and intra-beach thermal variation for Green Turtle nests on Ascension Island, South Atlantic

Nest temperatures for green turtles (Chelonia mydas) nesting on Ascension Island, South Atlantic (7°57\u27S 14°22\u27W), were examined. Temperature probes were placed into nests on two beaches, Long Beach (26 nests) and North East Bay (8 nests). Within these beaches there was relatively little thermal variation (SD of nest temperature was 0.32°C for Long Beach and 0.30°C for North East Bay). To examine inter-beach thermal variation temperature probes were buried at 55 cm on 12 beaches. Inter-beach thermal variation was large and was related to the beach albedo with the darkest beach (albedo, 016) being 4.2°C warmer than the lightest coloured beach (albedo, 0.73)

Chapter 15: Vulnerability of marine reptiles in the Great Barrier Reef to climate change

Marine reptiles are an important and well-documented component of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), comprising a single species of crocodile (Crocodylidae), six species of marine turtles (five Chelonidae and one Dermochelyidae), at least 16 species of sea snakes (Hydrophiidae), one species of file snake (Acrochordidae) and one species of mangrove snake (Colubridae). Together these marine reptile species inhabit or traverse through each of the 70 bioregions identified by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Representative Areas Program . These marine reptile species, with the exception of some of the snakes, have distributions that span large areas of the GBR. Crocodiles, marine turtles, file snakes, mangrove snakes and sea snakes all have life history traits, behaviour and physiology that are strongly influenced by temperature. All are ectothermic except for the leatherback turtle and thus their body temperatures fluctuate with environmental temperature. For egg laying species (crocodiles and turtles), the temperature of the nest determines incubation period, hatching success and hatching sex ratio. Thus as a group they are potentially vulnerable to climate change.This is Chapter 15 of Climate change and the Great Barrier Reef: a vulnerability assessment. The entire book can be found at http://hdl.handle.net/11017/13

Mental health wellness in tertiary education 2023 work presentation.

Research presented to student learning academic staff at personal development day. Background prior to research including reasons for the project were discussed, followed by presenting findings. The research asked how mental health is defined, trends and how tertiary providers could best support mental health well-being in the future

Liberation of women: Sexual repression and the family

https://stars.library.ucf.edu/prism/1036/thumbnail.jp

Thermal conductivity of sand and its effect on the temperature of Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta Caretta) nests

The conductivity of sand at a depth of 30–50 cm was measured at 15 sites on the beach at Captiva Island in south-west Florida which is used by nesting loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta). The mean daily temperature of the sand was correlated with conductivity at the same depth measured the same day (r=0·611). When day to day variation was removed the correlation between nest temperature and conductivity increased to 0·694. The sand was highly variable in its grain structure. The dominant variability (80·6%) was redescribed by the first two principal components of a Principal Components Analysis (PCA). These two components were influenced mostly by percentages of large (> 1 mm) and small (< 500 μm) grains respectively. Conductivity was strongly correlated with the grain structure of the sand. The first three principal components describing sand grain structure, explained 84·1% of the variation in conductivity. Moisture content of the sand (always < 5%) was not an important factor. Sites dominated by larger grains generally had poorer conductivity and were cooler. Comparisons of eight nests to seven adjacent random sites revealed no strong evidence for directional selection in nest placement relative to sand conductivity. The variance in conductivities recorded at nests was also not significantly different from the variance at random sites

A Crisis of Identity: A Collage of Emerging Scholars in the Crucible of Academe

This collaborative autoethnography (CAE) is presented in the form of a collage, rendered as an assemblage of co-constructed autoethnographic reflections, juxtaposed with poems, illustrations, and multivocal analyses that draw on Butlerian performativity, queer temporalities, and interpretive disability studies. Identifying as ‘differently abled’, we explore how our respective cognitive impairments and shared situatedness as mature-aged, ex-professional, non-economically productive ‘students’ have informed our identity development within the neoliberal academe. Responding to Amy Kilgard’s call for further theorisation of the embodied activity of collage-making, we invite readers to engage in shared meaning-making as we explore the methodological intersection of disability, queer temporality, and identity precariousness

Microplastic ingestion ubiquitous in marine turtles

Despite concerns regarding the environmental impacts of microplastics, knowledge of the incidence and levels of synthetic particles in large marine vertebrates is lacking. Here, we utilize an optimized enzymatic digestion methodology, previously developed for zooplankton, to explore whether synthetic particles could be isolated from marine turtle ingesta. We report the presence of synthetic particles in every turtle subjected to investigation (n = 102) which included individuals from all seven species of marine turtle, sampled from three ocean basins (Atlantic [ATL]: n = 30, four species; Mediterranean (MED): n = 56, two species; Pacific (PAC): n = 16, five species). Most particles (n = 811) were fibres (ATL: 77.1% MED: 85.3% PAC: 64.8%) with blue and black being the dominant colours. In lesser quantities were fragments (ATL: 22.9%: MED: 14.7% PAC: 20.2%) and microbeads (4.8%; PAC only; to our knowledge the first isolation of microbeads from marine megavertebrates). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‐IR) of a subsample of particles (n = 169) showed a range of synthetic materials such as elastomers (MED: 61.2%; PAC: 3.4%), thermoplastics (ATL: 36.8%: MED: 20.7% PAC: 27.7%) and synthetic regenerated cellulosic fibres (SRCF; ATL: 63.2%: MED: 5.8% PAC: 68.9%). Synthetic particles being isolated from species occupying different trophic levels suggest the possibility of multiple ingestion pathways. These include exposure from polluted seawater and sediments and/or additional trophic transfer from contaminated prey/forage items. We assess the likelihood that microplastic ingestion presents a significant conservation problem at current levels compared to other anthropogenic threats