CHRONICLE-HERALD (Halifax, Nova Scotia) 12 July 07 Tracking turtles, 007-style (Chris Lambie)
Eve, Sally and Lumpy aren't exactly spies, but they'll be sporting 007 technology when they take to the waters and wetlands of Kejimkujik National Park this summer.
The endangered Blanding's turtles will sport tiny global positioning system transmitters as part of a study aimed at monitoring their movements around the park.
"It is kind of James Bond-ish," said Stephen Flemming, a species-at-risk scientist with Parks Canada.
"It records every time it's above water 24 hours a day. So we get the exact pattern of where they're travelling, how they're using habitat - the whole thing."
The easygoing turtles, which number about 300 in Nova Scotia, can move a few kilometres over the course of a day.
"Other times, they'll sit in the same pond for days at a time," Mr. Flemming said Wednesday.
The tracking gizmos also contain radio transmitters so scientists can find their turtles again.
"What's amazing about this is that whole thing with the two transmitters and the batteries and the whole business weighs under 100 grams," Mr. Flemming said. "I'm pretty sure the CIA's got something smaller, but in terms of what regular people can achieve, this is about as small as one could ever get."
The adult turtles, which are about the size of a dinner plate, carry the transmitters in a small plastic pouch fastened to the backs of their shells. "It doesn't seem to bother them at all."
The tiny tracking devices were developed by Norm Green, a retired electronics and software specialist who lives in Hammonds Plains but spends a lot of his spare time volunteering at Keji with his wife, Suzanne.
"I worked on it all winter, probably from November until April," Mr. Green said.
The transmitters are about a third the size of a hockey puck.
"The batteries last an estimated 30 to 40 days," the 57-year-old said. "So if we're doing a full season of tracking, we would have to find them on probably three occasions to change the batteries."
The GPS engine in the transmitters is about the size of a postage stamp. It receives information from satellites, which is then stored on a memory card.
"It goes to sleep for two hours, and then it turns on and gets a fix from the satellite, saves it to disc and then goes to sleep for another two hours," Mr. Green said. "That's a method of extending the battery life."
The tiny turtle transmitters went through trials this spring and, after a little tweaking to prevent leaks, will go into full-scale use this summer.
"Technology was never in that zone before," Mr. Flemming said. "Literally, (we'll discover) where and how they're using habitat, under what weather conditions, under what time of year, how they deal with roads, how they deal with forest harvest cuts."
That information will allow scientists to regulate the forestry industry accordingly.
"The beauty of this is we'll have the exact routes where we see how the turtles do move and hence how they're mitigating that landscape. Which allows us then to work with forestry companies and say, 'If you harvest in this way, the turtles will be good. Harvest in that way, not so good.' And with endangered species, clearly that becomes something that has legal and enforceable pieces as well."
Scientists also want to know the routes the turtles take to get to their nesting spots.
"Because potentially we could do things on the landscape that could significantly limit their ability to go to breeding areas and, obviously, that has an impact on populations."
Population studies show that if Nova Scotia doesn't take aggressive action, it will lose Blanding's turtles fairly soon.
"In my estimation, I think (the population) will be non-recoverable in about 20 years," Mr. Flemming said. "So now's the time."
In that vein, volunteers at Keji are also involved in protecting the Blanding's turtle nests from predators. They've gone so far as to erect wire screens around traditional nesting sites to protect the eggs.
"The predation by raccoons is extremely high," Mr. Flemming said.
Volunteers are also "head-starting" turtles by raising them in captivity, then releasing them in the park.
"They're pretty hard-wired. When you put them out in the environment, they just go, 'I am a turtle. I am going to eat like this; I'm going to move like that.' And our survivorship with head-started turtles to date has been very high."
Tracking turtles, 007-style