Study on global migration of green turtles in the ASEAN waters

研究目的如下：1.利用卫星追踪系统，厘清泰国湾及安达曼海成年雌性绿色海龟的洄游路径.使用筑巢地温度记录数据记录器监测沙子温度，估计新孵化个体的性别比例。3.海龟地方种群结构的遗传分析.拖网捕捞努力量与海龟副渔获物数量的相关性。5.制定科学的保护战略：第一步，该项目强调利用Argos系统研究泰国湾和安达曼海的洄游路径。海龟的迁徙路线在因特网上展示（http：//bse.soc.i.kyoto-u.ac.jp/seastar2000/）。在2002年和2003年，我们在泰国的泰国湾和安达曼海以及马来西亚的泰国湾南部部署了12个平台发射机终端，以跟踪雌性绿色海龟。结果澄清了成年雌性绿色海龟筑巢后的迁移路径;在泰国湾，它们迁移到包括南中国海在内的泰国沃茨以外的各种海域，在安达曼海，几乎所有的海龟都通过不同的路线迁移到印度领海沃茨内的安达曼群岛。除了跟踪研究，我们还分析了绿色海龟的DNA，以澄清泰国湾和安达曼海海龟种群之间的差异。为了讨论东盟国家的海龟保护问题，我们在泰国的项目期间每年都举办SEASTAR 2000国际研讨会，并出版会议记录。

The objectives were as follows.1. To clarify migratory paths of adult female green turtles in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, using satellite tracking system.2. Monitoring of sand temperature using temperature recording data loggers in the nesting ground to estimate sex ratio of new-hatched individuals.3. Genetic analyses of the local population structures of the sea turtle.4. Correlation between fishing effort of trawling and the number of sea turtle by-catch. 5. Development of a scientific strategy for the conservation.In the first step, the project emphasized on research of migratory paths both in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, Thailand using the Argos system. The sea turtle migratory paths were demonstrated in the Internet (http://bse.soc.i.kyoto-u.ac.jp/seastar2000/). Both in 2002 and 2003 we deployed 12 platform transmitter terminals (PTTs) to track female green turtles at the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea in Thailand and also at the south Gulf of Thailand in Malaysia. The results clarified migratory paths of adult female green turtles after their nesting ; in the Gulf of Thailand they migrated to various sea areas sometimes even beyond Thai waters including the South China Sea, and in the Andaman Sea almost all the turtles migrated to the Andaman Islands within Indian territorial waters via different routes. In addition to the tracking study, we analyzed DNA of green turtles to clarify the difference between the stock in the Gulf of Thailand and that in the Andaman Sea. The results indicated there was no difference between them.In order to discuss conservation of sea turtles in the ASEAN countries, we held the international workshop on SEASTAR2000 every year during the project in Thailand and published the proceedings.