Amy

Barrow Island Flatback tracking 2006-2007

A project of West Australian Sea Turtle Satellite Tracking Project.

click map for full-size version Feb 2007 - Amy has left Barrow Island and tracking north west along the Pilbara coast of Western Australia. She is following a similar taken by the flatbacks tracked from Barrow Island a year earlier. Amy operated until September 2007 when the ptt stopped transmitting however new signals were received in December 2007 showing her in the same location. January 2008, Amy is still on location off Quondong Point north of Broome on the south Kimberly coast. Unlike all the other flatback turtles tracked over the past 4 years she has not moved off her final location following her post nesting migration. March 2008 - Amy's rookery mate Wayamba, who was tagged and released a couple of hours after AMy on the same beach and the same night, started to transmit again after a 9 month silence. Wayamba is headed south along the Kimberley coast once again.

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Species: Flatback Turtle
Life Stage: Adult
Gender: Female
Release Date: 2006-12-15 20:50:00
Release Location: Yacht Club North
Last Location: 2007-12-31 20:16:40

Adoptive Parents:
Amy Biggs
Jake Kostoryz
Aimee Rusidoff
Erin Saunders
Troy Ventriss and Hayley Cliff

Background

Amy was selected for the satellite tracking program from a Barrow Island flatback rookery. She was chosen because she fitted into the harness nicely, she didnt have any shark bites out of her carapace and she was clearly very fit. The central east coast of Barrow Island supports the primary flatback rookerys on Barrow Island. This is a low energy environment compared to the west coast which supports almost 100% green turtle nesting. A saturation flipper tagging program on the six flatback nesting beaches on Barrow Island is in its second year with 12 volunteers on two week shifts tagging all 6 beaches from late November to the end of January each year.