MRF again worked in partnership with URS Qatar to implement the turtle monitoring and conservation work along Ras Laffan’s north beach during the 2008 season, following similar work over the past three years. Monitoring efforts commenced on 1st April and concluded on 27th August with financial support by Dolphin Energy Limited, and ExxonMobil as a commitment to environmental approvals by the Ministry of Environment.

 

Two MRF research personnel worked full-time on the project and staff were present on the beach every night of both the nesting and hatching seasons. Beach patrols were conducted on 4x4 All Terrain Vehicles (ATV’s), and turtles were tagged, measured and weighed and the number of eggs and location of each nest carefully recorded. Subsequent hatching success was monitored for each nest.

 

Nesting numbers in 2008 dropped substantially, with only 49 nesting attempts by 20 individual turtles and an additional 13 unsuccessful and unrecorded emergences. This conforms to a steady and alarming decline of 20% per annum over the past five years. Biological characteristics of these turtles remained similar to that of previous seasons, however sizes of turtles appear to be gradually decreasing, suggesting a loss of larger individuals in the nesting population. Turtles in the 2008 season averaged 69.3 cm in Curved Carapace Length and 36.9 kg in weight, down by some 5% from past seasons. Turtles were found to lay an average of 1.7 clutches of eggs, and overall hatchling production from this beach in 2008 was 2054 hatchlings, which was higher than that estimated for 2007 but still at the very lower end of the global scale.

 

The temporal scale of the nesting season mirrored that of previous years, with nesting commencing in April and concluded by the end of June, and hatchling emergence being completed by the end of August. Nesting took place after dark, primarily between 7:00pm and 01:00am, in keeping with general turtle behaviour and previous findings in Qatar. Nesting was widely distributed along the entire beach length, from the fence at the northwest by the Coast Guard to the lagoon at the southeast by the mangroves. Two concentrations of nesting were noted; one around the Dolphin pipeline area and the other down at the sandspit by the lagoon. An average of just over two nesting attempts were required to result in a successful nest on the RLC beaches, indicating a degree of difficulty encountered by the adult turtles. MRF and URS recommended that thorough beach cleanup operations be implemented in January to February to enable more successful nesting, leading to a replenishment of the depleted population. Conservation efforts continued to include deployment of mesh screes over the nests to deter predation, and this was kept to under 2% during this season. While foxes continue to be a hazard to eggs and hatchlings, the greater impact comes from lighting behind the beach from the industrial facilites, which will need address in the coming years.

 

The heightened nesting in the vicinity of the Dolphin pipeline reaffirms the positive conclusions on lack of impact by this pipeline, while the concentration of nests by the sandspit is of concern given current ongoing industrial development at this site. Overall however, the lower number of turtles, smaller in size, laying less clutches of eggs with lowered incubation success rates is extremely alarming with regard to consistent declines and the critical nature of this population.