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MISR Level 3 Monthly FIRSTLOOK Global Land Product in netCDF V002

Entry ID: MI3MLSNF2

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Summary

Abstract: The hawksbill population that nests in the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico) is considered the largest in the Atlantic and one of the four largest in the world. However, from about 6,400 registered annual number of nests in 1999 (when the Mexican population represented about 43% of all recorded hawksbill nests in the Greater Caribbean), the population's reproductive output dropped to less than 2,400 ... nests/yr by 2004. No single cause has been demonstrated but as major nesting sites are under protection this alarming decline (a drop of 63% in 5 years) is suspected to be associated with threats impacting the species at foraging grounds or migratory routes. Unfortunately not only has there been no capacity to study and protect these habitats but, with the exception of studies by Byles and Swimmer (1994) and Garduño et al. (2003), there is also insufficient information on the routes taken and foraging destinations for the various rookeries in the region. To address these issues, the current satellite tracking project was instrumented to reveal the post-nesting migratory behavior of hawksbills in the Yucatan Peninsula, starting in 2006 with animals nesting in Campeche State, where about 50% of the reproductive output by the species in the whole Peninsula is concentrated.

Knowledge on the migratory routes and foraging sites will be helpful in identifying and mitigating potential threats in the marine habitats and for the establishment of research programs on the status of the habitats themselves. Furthermore, discovering whether or not these lie within or outside Mexican territorial waters has important consequences for the management strategies. If they are inside, the responsibility for addressing the hawksbills' conservation needs is totally Mexico's. If, on the other hand, some or all of the turtles cross into international waters or into other countries' jurisdictions it would indicate an internationally shared responsibility.

Future studies by the group will be directed towards tracking hawksbills nesting in the two other sates using similar techniques and learning from the lessons obtained from this season's experience.

Literature cited
-Byles, R. A. and Swimmer, Y. B. 1994. Post-nesting migration of Eretmocheyls imbricata in the Yucatán Península. In: K. A. Bjorndal, A. B. Bolten, D. A. Johnson and P. J. Eliazar (compilers). 1994. Proc. Fourteenth Ann. Symp. Sea Turtle Biol. and Cons. NMFS-SEFSC-351. p. 202.
-Garduño-Andrade, M., Schroeder, B. Balazs, G. and Lope, R. 2003. Migration and dive behavior of female hawksbills (Eretmochelys imbricata) in the Yucatan Peninsula. In: Seminoff, J. A. Compiler, Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-SEFSC-503, p. 285

CURRENTNESS REFERENCE: ground condition

SPATIAL DATA ORGANIZATION INFORMATION
Direct Spatial Reference: Vector

SPATIAL REFERENCE INFORMATION - GEODETIC MODEL
Horizontal Datum Name: D_WGS_1984
Ellipsoid Name: WGS_1984
Semi-major Axis: 6378137.000000
Denominator of Flattening Ratio: 298.257224

NATIVE: Microsoft Windows 2000 Version 5.0 (Build 2195) Service Pack 4; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.1.0.722

Related URL

Link: GET DATA

Description: Access data from the OBIS and OBIS-SEAMAP websites.

Multimedia Sample

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Caption: Hawksbills Survey

Geographic Coverage

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Spatial coordinates

N: 22.42

S: 18.71

E: -86.33

W: -91.79

Data Set Citation

Dataset Originator/Creator: Grupo de trabajo para la tortuga carey (Mexico)

Dataset Title: Migratory patterns of Yucatan Peninsula hawksbills

Dataset Series Name: OBIS-SEAMAP

Dataset Release Date: 2006-11-02 05:37:34-05

Dataset Release Place: http://seamap.env.duke.edu

Dataset Publisher: OBIS-SEAMAP

Data Presentation Form: vector digital data

Parent DIF

This data set description is a member of a collection. The collection is described in
OBIS-SEAMAP

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 2006-07-13

Stop Date: 2006-10-19

Location Keywords

OCEAN > ATLANTIC OCEAN > NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN > GULF OF MEXICO

CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA > MEXICO

Data Resolution

Latitude Resolution: 0.000167 Decimal degrees
Longitude Resolution: 0.000167 Decimal degrees
Horizontal Resolution Range: 1 meter - < 30 meters

Science Keywords

BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > REPTILES > TURTLES

ISO Topic Category

BIOTA

BOUNDARIES

Platform

RADIO TRANSMITTERS

Project

OBIS-SEAMAP > OBIS - Spatial Ecological Analysis of Megavertebrate Populations

Access Constraints ACCESS CONSTRAINTS: Open public unless otherwise noted.

DISTRIBUTION LIABILITY: Not to hold OBIS-SEAMAP liable for errors in the data. While we have made every effort to ensure the quality of the database, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of these datasets. Also please refer to Use Constraints.

Use Constraints Not to use data contained in OBIS-SEAMAP in any publication, product, or commercial application without prior written consent of the original data provider. To cite both the data provider and OBIS-SEAMAP appropriately after approval of use is obtained. Also please refer to Distribution Liability.

Data Set Progress

COMPLETE

Originating Center

Data Center

OBIS Spatial Ecological Analysis of Megavertebrate Populations

Data Center URL: http://seamap.env.duke.edu/

Data Center Personnel
Name: PATRICK N. HALPIN Phone: 919-613-8062 Email: phalpin at duke.edu Contact Address: Duke University Box 90328 City: Durham Province or State: NC Postal Code: 27708 Country: USA

Distribution

Distribution Size: 0.021

Fees: Free

Personnel

EI FUJIOKA

Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT

Role: DIF AUTHOR

Phone: 919-613-8021

Fax: 919-684-8741

Email: efujioka at duke.edu

Contact Address:

LSRC A321

Box 90328

City: Durham

Province or State: NC

Postal Code: 27708

Country: USA

Creation and Review Dates

DIF Creation Date: 2006-07-17

Last DIF Revision Date: 2008-01-13

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