Co-Editor, Indian Ocean Turtle Newsletter
iotn.editors@gmail.com
I am pleased to introduce this joint issue of IOTN and the MedTurtle Bulletin (MTB) which focuses on the rescue and rehabilitation of sea turtles. The co-ordinated special issue highlights work being carried out by rescue organisations and rehabilitation centres across both the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean regions, bringing our collective attention to the numbers of turtles being treated and the range of impacts they are experiencing, and to promote the huge potential that operating rescue and rehabilitation centres have for raising awareness about the biology and conservation of sea turtles and the marine environment.
With this objective, IOTN41 highlights practices during the crisis management of stranded loggerhead post-hatchlings in South Africa, analysis of two decades of rehabilitation data from Reunion Island, and rescue of turtles from ghost gear in Indian waters. In the absence of a stranding network in India, we also continue to present data about stranded turtles which can contribute to future understanding of causes of mortality and potentially inform the treatment of live, injured and/or bycatch turtles. IOTN readers are encouraged to also read the complementary issue of MTB which includes articles on the establishment and operation of rescue centres in the Mediterranean region, environmental enrichment for turtles under rehabilitation, experiences with turtles under rehabilitation, adaptation to life in the open sea of sea turtles released with flipper amputations.
IOTN41 also includes the President’s Report for the 42nd Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation held in Pattaya, Thailand, in March 2024. A second report summarises the discussion and recommendations from the Decolonising Sea Turtle Conservation working group who met for the first time at the same symposium in Thailand. Further discussion on this topic is sure to occur at the upcoming 43rd International Sea Turtle Symposium in Accra, Ghana, in March 2025 (see announcement in IOTN40)
Finally, I would like to introduce the new co-editor of IOTN, Seh Ling Long from Malaysia. Please join me in welcoming Seh Ling to the IOTN team; she will be reaching out to many readers soon to encourage submissions for future issues.
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