American Samoa Marine Turtle Project

The Wildlife Division of the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources in American Samoa has a Marine Turtle Conservation Program which is partially supported by PIRO. Proposed work includes : 1) continue to implement intensive beach monitoring efforts at identified hawksbill nesting beaches at Ofu and Olosenga Islands to determine nesting activity patterns and identify the nesting season; 2) conduct nighttime monitoring to identify and locate suitable post-nesting hawksbill turtle females for satellite tagging; 3) support continuation of satellite tracking of satellite of turtles tagged from the previous grants to further document movement and migration patterns; 4) map identified nesting beaches in Tau Island to complete the mapping of all identified nesting beaches in the Territory; 5) expand the geographic coverage of a population genetic studies by sampling of confiscated, captured, and recovered carcasses or live turtles; 6) undertake oportunistic monitoring of green turtles on Tutuila island; and 7) provide educational outreach to the public to enhance public awareness on and support for turtle conservation in the Territory.

Wildlife Division of the Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources (American Samoa Government)