Sea Turtle accidentally caught on fishing line by Ray and Dawn Dent and then released at Onerahi on Waiheke Island on 9 May:
Link to photo: https://scontent.fpmr1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/ ... e=5EDFE56F
Sea Turtle spp, Onerahi, Waiheke Island
- Michael Szabo
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Sea Turtle spp, Onerahi, Waiheke Island
'New Zealand Birders' Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/857726274293085
- zarkov
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Re: Sea Turtle spp, Onerahi, Waiheke Island
Be too cold down here for it soon, I would think.
Tarltons might have been better.
Tarltons might have been better.
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Re: Sea Turtle spp, Onerahi, Waiheke Island
It looks like a hawksbill. Running through illustrations of "green" turtles its amazing how many are misidentified.
P
P
- Studio Pajaro
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Re: Sea Turtle spp, Onerahi, Waiheke Island
Hi! Looks like a green to me. Hawksbills are usually darker with a more striking shell pattern with overlapping scutes.
Unfortunately you cant see the head clearly.
Great find though and hopefully it’s healthy.
Cheers
Unfortunately you cant see the head clearly.
Great find though and hopefully it’s healthy.
Cheers
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- Posts: 153
- Joined: Sun Jul 10, 2011 10:39 am
Re: Sea Turtle spp, Onerahi, Waiheke Island
Interesting .
Clearly it is either a Hawksbill or Green as the first costal scutes (blue here) do not touch the nuchal acute (white in photo).
I have always understood that the shape of the vertebral scutes (in red here) was I pretty diagnostic feature in separating Green and Hawksbill. In Greens in my experience, the vertebral scutes are generally almost rectangular and in Hawksbill they are diamond-shaped. The scutes are as you say generally overlapping in Hawksbills but this feature is apparently less prominent in fully adult individuals. If had been a Hawkbill its would have been a pretty big one.
What is diagnostic as you say is a good view of the head. But from looking at a blown-up image I suspect that it does have the diagnostic pattern of a Green (with just one pair of prefrontal scales and not 2) and the apparent presence of just one claw on the flipper pretty much clinches it as a Green.
Like most NZers most I have learned about turtles has come from reading and I am always keen to learn more...
Cheers Paul
Clearly it is either a Hawksbill or Green as the first costal scutes (blue here) do not touch the nuchal acute (white in photo).
I have always understood that the shape of the vertebral scutes (in red here) was I pretty diagnostic feature in separating Green and Hawksbill. In Greens in my experience, the vertebral scutes are generally almost rectangular and in Hawksbill they are diamond-shaped. The scutes are as you say generally overlapping in Hawksbills but this feature is apparently less prominent in fully adult individuals. If had been a Hawkbill its would have been a pretty big one.
What is diagnostic as you say is a good view of the head. But from looking at a blown-up image I suspect that it does have the diagnostic pattern of a Green (with just one pair of prefrontal scales and not 2) and the apparent presence of just one claw on the flipper pretty much clinches it as a Green.
Like most NZers most I have learned about turtles has come from reading and I am always keen to learn more...
Cheers Paul
- Studio Pajaro
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- Joined: Sat May 04, 2013 2:29 pm
- Location: Japan
Re: Sea Turtle spp, Onerahi, Waiheke Island
Thanks Paul, that is a nice explanation you could be right. Turtles appearance do vary in a lot between individuals but as you say there are key diagnostics in determining which species. I was trying to find the second claw but the image is a bit small haha.
Cheers!
Cheers!