Mission
To gather data on the sea turtles of French Polynesia through photo-identification, following the TORSOOI protocol.
The Tia ‘i honu network is a citizen science project whose aim is a better understanding of the sea turtle populations found in French Polynesia. That means building a citizen science network and using non-invasive methods to collect more data on the turtles living on the reefs of the Polynesian islands, so that they can be conserved more effectively.
Objectives of the TIA ‘I HONU project
To count the sea turtles around the islands of French Polynesia and improve our understanding of how they use their habitats, using photographs of the turtles’ profiles.
- Creating a permanent Observatory on the sea turtles of French Polynesia, in partnership with DIREN
- Building a detailed database from the observations: analysis of photo-identifications, of measured sizes by species, and of nesting-related observations
How the project works
- Building a network of sea turtle observers: collecting field data on nesting surveys and at-sea sightings, training in photo-identification → talks and training sessions
- Using non-invasive methods to collect data on turtles: photo-identification and stereo cameras to measure turtle sizes
- Producing an assessment of the sea turtles living around the Polynesian islands: number of identifications, species, residence time, size
- Deepening our knowledge of the habitats and movements of the sea turtles observed in French Polynesia
- Keeping the network active by creating training materials, posters, talks and summaries of the observations collected
Help us identify the sea turtles of French Polynesia!
The ideal photos:
- Both profiles (right and left), complete: from the base of the neck to the tip of the beak
- A photo of the whole turtle taken from above
- A photo of a single profile can still be processed and provides valuable information
Send your photos with the date and place of the sighting by email, as attachments or via a download link, to: photoid@temanaotemoana.org
You will get a reply about the turtle you photographed — and if it is a new identification, you get to name her!
Key figures
Partners
