UNDIAGNOSED DIE-OFF, SEA TURTLES, DUGONGS â€" AUSTRALIA: (QUEENSLAND) NUTRITION SUSPECTED
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Date: 25 Jul 2011
Source: My Foxhouston.com [edited]
<http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpps/news/international/mass-turtle-deaths-on-great-barrier-reef-have-scientists-worried-dpgonc-20110725-to_14282463?>
Scientists were struggling Monday [25 Jul 2011] to understand why the northern coast of Queensland has become littered with sick and dying turtles and dugongs.
More than 400 bodies have been discovered along the coastline near the Great Barrier Reef, and experts believe hundreds more animals could have perished in remote areas or simply sunk to the bottom of the sea.
"The bodies we are finding are just the tip of the iceberg," Ellen Ariel, a virologist with the James Cook University in Queensland, said. "We are only finding the bodies because they appear on beaches where people are walking but there will be many others in places no one can access."
Ariel, who attended an emergency summit in Townsville on Friday [22 Jul 2011] to discuss the deaths, called the situation "an environmental disaster."
Experts think the fatalities could be the result of extreme weather in northern Australia. Devastating floods in December [2010] and January [2011], and a cyclone in February, caused a runoff of nutrients into the ocean, potentially killing the seagrass that both turtles and dugongs -- or "sea cows" -- feed on. The grass provides nutrients and improves the animals' ability to breath underwater.
"There is evidence that marine animals, including turtles, are suffering from poor nutrition because of a lack of seagrass," Vicky Darling, the Queensland Environment Minister, said.
Ariel said the impact on the turtle population was potentially as severe as the devastation to marine life caused by an oil spill.
"If this is taking out a whole generation of juvenile turtles you won't have a new population for 60 years," she said. "It's really dramatic. It's right up there with the oil spills in the US."
The Townsville turtle hospital was at full capacity Monday, and James Cook University set up a rehabilitation center for sick sea life.
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[This article does not tell us which type(s) of sea turtles is/are dying. There are only 7 species of sea turtle found worldwide and 6 of them are found in Australian waters. These are the loggerhead, green, hawksbill, olive ridley, flatback and leatherback turtles. Most sea turtles are found in warm, tropical oceanic waters and so are mostly seen in northern Australian waters. leatherback turtles have a global distribution and can also be found in colder waters, such as around southern Australia.
Dugongs are large grey mammals which spend their entire lives in the sea. Fully grown, they may be 3 metres [10 feet] long and weigh 400 kilograms [882 pounds]. They have nostrils near the top of their snouts. Dugongs swim by moving their broad spade-like tail in an up and down motion, and by use of their 2 flippers. Dugongs' only hairs are the bristles near the mouth.
Dugongs are highly migratory, which means Australia shares populations with other neighbouring countries. In Australia, Dugongs swim in the shallow coastal waters of northern Australia from the Queensland/New South Wales border in the east to Shark Bay on the Western Australian coast. They are also found in other parts of the Indian and Pacific Oceans in warm shallow seas where seagrass is found.
The scientist mentioned in this article believe this is only the "tip of the iceberg" but if the bodies of animals are not washed up on shore how do they know there are other unaccounted for dead animals?
Have they sent divers down looking for this? While the water is relatively clear and shallow, the bodies could be washed to other regions, if indeed there are dead ones that are not accounted for.
While the lack of sea grass is a huge issue for both of these animals, it is also sad that there are places in Australia where the dugongs are hunted with firearms. I suppose people eat them, just at they eat the turtle eggs, even of turtles that are endangered. It might be one issue if these people were starving but rather they are used as some delicacy.
While nature may have played a role in eliminating sea grass, and we hope it comes back, I did not see a proposal on how to help these animal in the meantime. Dugongs are similar in many ways to the manatee in the northern hemisphere.
Photos of dugongs may be found at: <http://australian-animals.net/> and <http://bushwarriors.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/dugong-photo-via-national-geographic.jpg>
and <http://titchytotchy.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/dugong.jpg>
Photos of sea turtles may be seen at:
<http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/marineturtles/marineturtles.html>
- Mod.TG]
[see also:
2003
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Sea turtle, die-off - Australia: RFI 20030116.0130] .................................................sb/tg/ejp/dk/ll
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