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Point Denis is the best known seaside resort in Gabon. It lies on a peninsula between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gabon Estuary, across which boats sail to Libreville. It also lies near the Pongara National Park.
Point Denis is a major breeding ground for the leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea). Between 1 800 and 2 000 nests are laid annually on its beaches. Recent studies by Dr Sharon Deem, formerly of the Wildlife Conservation Society, note that the worldwide turtle population is being threatened by man's activities. [1] One such activity is the development of Point Denis. Turtles find their way to the sea by using the light from the moon shimmering off the water as a reference. Man-made artificial lights at night disorientate the female turtles during laying season as well as the hatchlings trying to find their way to the water. As a result, many turtles head off in the wrong direction and can die from starvation and dehydration. [2] Nests are also destroyed by visitors who drive vehicles, mainly quad bikes, on the beaches. Another problem is the pollution from the nearby town of Libreville. Turtles often mistake plastic bags in the water for jellyfish, their principal food source, and die if they ingest them. Nevertheless, there is a growing environmental movement in Gabon, protection of the turtles being one of their priorities.
Wildebeest are found in the area, as well as a diverse population of monkeys, birds, snakes and other reptiles. Humpback whales can be seen in the sea.
Deepwater is a coastal national park in Queensland, Australia, 375 km north of Brisbane. It protects an area of sand dunes and coastal heaths in the Deepwater Creek catchment. The area is one of the few remaining pristine freshwater catchments on Queensland's east coast. Deepwater National Park was established in 1988 and covers 4,090 ha.
Sea turtles, sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, Kemp's ridley, and olive ridley. Six of the seven sea turtle species, all but the flatback, are present in U.S. waters, and are listed as endangered and/or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. All but the flatback turtle are listed as threatened with extinction globally on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The flatback turtle is found only in the waters of Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia.
The leatherback sea turtle, sometimes called the lute turtle, leathery turtle or simply the luth, is the largest of all living turtles and the heaviest non-crocodilian reptile, reaching lengths of up to 1.8 metres and weights of 500 kilograms (1,100 lb). It is the only living species in the genus Dermochelys and family Dermochelyidae. It can easily be differentiated from other modern sea turtles by its lack of a bony shell; instead, its carapace is covered by oily flesh and flexible, leather-like skin, for which it is named.
Buck Island Reef National Monument protects Buck Island, a small, uninhabited 176-acre island about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of the northeast coast of Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, and 18,839 acres of submerged lands, totaling 19,015 acres. It was first established as a protected area by the U.S. Government in 1948, with the intention of preserving “one of the finest marine gardens in the Caribbean Sea.” The U.S. National Monument was created in 1961 by John F. Kennedy and greatly expanded in 2001 by Bill Clinton, over the opposition of local fishermen. Buck Island National Monument is one of few places in the Virgin Islands where brown pelicans and threatened least terns nest.
A hatchery is a facility where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions, especially those of fish, poultry or even turtles. It may be used for ex-situ conservation purposes, i.e. to breed rare or endangered species under controlled conditions; alternatively, it may be for economic reasons.
Mayumba is a Vili- and Shira-speaking town of about 5,208 people on the Atlantic Ocean coast of Gabon, at the end of the N6 road, lying on a peninsula separated from the mainland by the Banio Lagoon.
The loggerhead sea turtle is a species of oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around 90 cm (35 in) in carapace length when fully grown. The adult loggerhead sea turtle weighs approximately 135 kg (298 lb), with the largest specimens weighing in at more than 450 kg (1,000 lb). The skin ranges from yellow to brown in color, and the shell is typically reddish brown. No external differences in sex are seen until the turtle becomes an adult, the most obvious difference being the adult males have thicker tails and shorter plastrons than the females.
Perdido Key is an unincorporated community in Escambia County, Florida located between Pensacola, Florida and Orange Beach, Alabama. The community is located on and named for Perdido Key, a barrier island in northwest Florida and southeast Alabama. "Perdido" means "lost" in the Spanish and Portuguese languages. The Florida district of the Gulf Islands National Seashore includes the east end of the island, as well as other Florida islands. No more than a few hundred yards wide in most places, Perdido Key stretches some 16 miles (26 km) from near Pensacola to Perdido Pass Bridge near Orange Beach.
Barra del Parismina is a village of about 500 people located on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, at the mouth of the Reventazón River. Parismina is about halfway between Tortuguero and Limón on the Tortuguero canals. There is no road to Parismina; it is accessible only by boat or plane and while some cars and motorcycles exist within the village, the paved surface is the runway. Parismina is part of the Canton of Siquirres in the Limón Province. Eco-tourism and sport fishing are the foundation of the village economy.
The Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United States National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) System, located along a twenty-mile (30 km) section of coastline from Melbourne Beach to Wabasso Beach, Florida, along State Road A1A. The 900 acre (3.6 km2) refuge was established in 1991, to protect the loggerhead and green sea turtles.
The wildlife of Gabon is composed of its flora and fauna. Gabon is a largely low-lying country with a warm, humid climate. Much of the country is still covered by tropical rainforest and there are also grasslands, savannas, large rivers and coastal lagoons.
Mayumba National Park is a national park in southwestern Gabon. It is a thin tongue of beach, dunes, savanna, and rain-forest in the extreme south of the country, between Mayumba and the Congo border. Mayumba National Park shelters 60 km of the most important leatherback turtle nesting beaches on Earth and is home to unique coastal vegetation and a variety of terrestrial animals, including forest elephants, buffaloes, leopards, gorillas, chimpanzees, antelopes, crocodiles, hippos, and several species of monkeys. It also stretches for 15 km out to sea, protecting important marine habitats for dolphins, sharks, and migrating humpback whales. It is Gabon's only primarily marine park.
Pongara National Park is a national park in Gabon near the capital Libreville, on the south side of the Gabon Estuary and the Atlantic Ocean. It covers an area of 929km2. The national park is composed chiefly of moist tropical forests and mangrove forests.
Fin and flipper locomotion occurs mostly in aquatic locomotion, and rarely in terrestrial locomotion. From the three common states of matter — gas, liquid and solid, these appendages are adapted for liquids, mostly fresh or saltwater and used in locomotion, steering and balancing of the body. Locomotion is important in order to escape predators, acquire food, find mates and bury for shelter, nest or food. Aquatic locomotion consists of swimming, whereas terrestrial locomotion encompasses walking, 'crutching', jumping, digging as well as covering. Some animals such as sea turtles and mudskippers use these two environments for different purposes, for example using the land for nesting, and the sea to hunt for food.
Ecology Project International is a non-profit organization based in Missoula, Montana, dedicated to developing place-based, ecological education partnerships between local experts and youth to address conservation issues. Ecology Project International (EPI) works with students and educators at seven program sites around the world: Belize, Costa Rica, mainland Ecuador, Galápagos Islands, Hawaii, Mexico, and Yellowstone.
Sea turtle migration is the long-distance movements of sea turtles notably the long-distance movement of adults to their breeding beaches, but also the offshore migration of hatchings. Sea turtle hatchings emerge from underground nests and crawl across the beach towards the sea. They then maintain an offshore heading until they reach the open sea. The feeding and nesting sites of adult sea turtles are often distantly separated meaning some must migrate hundreds or even thousands of kilometres.
Khao Lampi–Hat Thai Mueang National Park is a national park in Phang Nga Province, Thailand. The park is named for its two separate sections: Khao Lampi named for the park section containing Lampi mountain range and Hat Thai Mueang, the beach section of the park.
Saronde Island is an island in the Celebes Sea, within the Ponelo Islands District of North Gorontalo Regency, in Gorontalo Province, Indonesia.
The Utría National Natural Park is a national park in the Chocó Department, Colombia. It contains diverse flora and fauna in a lush, mountainous rainforest environment with some of the highest rainfall in the world, at up to 10,000 millimetres (390 in) annually. The park also protects the coastal marine environment, and is known for visits by humpback whales, who give birth in the lagoon after which the park is named, and sea turtles who nest on the beaches. There is accommodation for visitors, and ecotourism services are provided by the local indigenous people and members of the coastal Afro-Colombian communities.
The Amana Nature Reserve is a nature reserve in French Guiana, France. It has been protected, because it is one of the world's largest leatherback turtle nesting site. It is part of the communes of Awala-Yalimapo and Mana.
0°19′01″N9°22′01″E / 0.31694°N 9.36694°E
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