Life Sciences research to protect endangered sea turtles featured on BBC

• Monday, May 1, 2017

BBC Two's programme 'An Island Parish' features Life Sciences research to protect sea turtles in danger of extinction if the hunting ban in Anguilla is lifted in 2020.

The University of Roehampton is a key collaborator in a six figure EU grant to study the sea turtles. Dr Lewis Halsey and Dr Louise Soanes are providing overall support for the project, including collection and analysis of data and the writing of peer-reviewed publications. Working with the Anguilla National Trust (ANT) and Anguilla's Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Roehampton's Dr Jonathan Skinner is coordinating the training of local researchers in undertaking and analysing surveys, interviews and focus groups.

Dr Louise Soanes said: "While the ban on hunting sea turtles has been in place since 1995, they are still hunted illegally and eggs are stolen from the nests. As part of this project's continuing work in 2017, project partners have now successfully attached loggers to three turtles in Anguilla to help monitor their foraging areas and will continue to monitor nesting populations to protect the population from extinction."

Dr Louise Soanes is a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow in Marine Ecology.

Watch the episode of 'An Island Parish' which aired on Monday the 2nd of January on BBC iplayer. Please note this will be available for a limited time. Keep up to date with developments in the sea turtle project each Monday.  

The Department of Life Sciences offers outstanding undergraduate and postgraduate degrees including two new integrated masters courses that combine Undergraduate and Masters-level study in Zoology or Biological Sciences.