Flatback Whereabouts Project

Data provider
DEHP2
Originating data center
Satellite Tracking and Analysis Tool (STAT)
Project partner
This project is jointly funded by James Cook University and WWF-Australia’s Species Conservation team in conjunction with the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection and partners from the Gudjuda Reference Group, Queens Beach Action Group.

James Cook University, Department of Environment and Heritage Protection, WWF-Australia and their partners are working together to solve the mystery of the flatback turtles’ whereabouts in the northern Great Barrier Reef. At Wunjunga Beach, just south of Townsville in Queensland, scientists are continuing their study to identify the migration pathways, diets and critical foraging habitats of this vulnerable turtle.

In November 2014, four satellite transmitters were attached to nesting flatback turtles originating from Wunjunga Beach. Another six have been deployed during the 2014-2015 nesting season from the same location.

Complementary to the information acquired by satellite tracking, stable isotope collection and analysis of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) will assist us to determine the flatbacks’ diet, if there are one or more foraging grounds, and their migration paths.

Sampling the foraging grounds will also help us to determine flatback habitat type and diet preference.

There are many studies that show how marine turtles are being adversely affected by environmental change. With so little known about the flatback turtle, it is a priority that we identify their key foraging habitats and monitor their presence at nesting beaches, to gauge their responses to a changing environment.

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Visit STAT's project page for additional information.

Overview

This section explains attributes included in the original dataset. OBIS-SEAMAP restricts the attributes available to the public to date/time, lat/lon and species names/counts only. Should you need other attributes described here, you are encouraged to contact the data provider.

Attributes described below represent those in the original dataset provided by the provider.
Only minimum required attributes are visible and downloadable online. Other attributes may be obtained upon provider's permission.

Attributes in dataset

Attribute (table column)	Description
prognum	Program number
tag_id	PTT ID
lc	Location class
iq	Quality indicator
dir1	Dir 1
nb_mes	Number of messages received
big_nb_mes	definition not provided
best_level	Best signal strength in dB
pass_duration	Pass duration in seconds
nopc	Number Of Plausibility Checks successful (from 0-4)
calcul_freq	Calculated frequency
altitude	Altitude used for location calculation
sensors	Sensors
species	Species name
project_id	STAT Project ID
lc_filter	Parameters to location filtering
speed_filter	Parameters to speed filtering
distance_filter	Parameters to distance filtering
topo_filter	Parameters to topo filtering
time_filter	Parameters to time filtering
angle_filter	Parameters to angle filtering
life_stage	Life stage of the animal
gender	Gender of the animal
wetdry	Wet or dry
wetdry_filter	Parameters to Wet or dry filterint
obs_datetime	Date and time (local time zone)
timezone_h	Time difference from UTC