Emirates Wildlife Society in association with WWF (EWS-WWF) yesterday launched the second year of its Great Gulf Turtle Race, and is calling on the community to take part by voting for their favorite turtle.
This four-week light-hearted race, part of EWS-WWF's Marine Turtle Conservation Project, serves as an interactive platform for the UAE community and beyond to learn about the plight of Hawksbill turtles in the region.
This year, of the 31-tagged turtles, 28 of them will be competing in the symbolic event to win the titles of most popular and furthest traveled turtles.
Beginning at midnight, the current locations of turtles already equipped with transmitters will be noted. The furthest distance traveled by a turtle from that point in time until midnight on July 12, will "win" the race.
Turtles in the race have been named by their sponsors, who covered the costs associated with tagging their sponsored turtles. The dedicated website www.gulfturtles.com houses a wealth of information on Hawksbills and is the go-to place during the race to vote for your favorite turtle as well as chart their migratory progress.
The race is the fun element, helping to raise awareness of the threats facing this species, listed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List. However, there is a more serious side to this event which is the robust multi-country research project.
The project works closely with partners in the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Iran as well as the Marine Research Foundation in Malaysia to collect data to locate areas which these creatures rely on for their future survival.
Lisa Perry, program director at EWS-WWF, said: “It is important for the project to carry such a regional dimension — as a post-nesting Hawksbill turtle can travel across several international borders and as a result these movements demand international conservation measures.
