The Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center

Ashley Meade Kusel begins her presentation titled Straight from the cloaca: The coprophagous relationship between remotas and green turtles.

ACCSTR student @ecologistash.bsky.social presented yesterday on the coprophagous relationship between remoras and green turtles. #ISTS2026

Participants mingle at tables on a lawn with a dark sky, palm trees, and hotel in background.

Hawaiian dancers dressed in red on a covered stage with a band behind them.

A man with fire sticks spinning and drummers behind him. ISTS participants look on.

Dr. Alexander Gaos gives opening remarks.

A lovely welcome social and opening ceremonies at #ISTS2026.

Renato Saragoça Bruno delivers a presentation titled: From Costa Rica to the Sargasso Sea: Tracking “lost years” sea turtles reveals dispersion routes and the longest recorded movement of a critically endangered hawksbill

Marco Garcia Cruz delivers a presentation titled: Comparison of isotopic niches of breeding green turtles at two major Caribbean rookeries

ACCSTR student (Renato Bruno) and former postdoc (Marco Garcia Cruz) delivered presentations at #ISTS2026 yesterday. See alt text for their titles.

We are and have been posting!

A selfie in front of the conference welcome sign. The logo shows a sea turtle at the water’s surface with a volcano in the background. Across the volcano is the word “Kaiāulu”, which is a Hawaiian word for community/neighborhood/village. The theme reflects the close-knit nature of the people who work with sea turtles - celebrating how we support one another to coordinate conservation, science, and management around the world. The pronunciation of Kaiāulu in English is roughly "kai-ah-oo-loo": Kai sounds like "kite" without the "t", ā is a long "ah" sound, ulu is like "oo-loo". So, the full pronunciation is "kai-AH-oo-loo" with emphasis on the "AH" syllable.

I’ll be posting this week from the International Sea Turtle Society symposium in Hawai’i

Day 1 was full of fantastic workshops: in the morning I attended one about applying for research permits to study turtles, and my afternoon was all about sea turtle epibionts 🌊🐢

#ISTS44 #ISTS2026 #seaturtle

Ana Vilma Henriquez Pocasangre shared group's work in #seaturtle nest protection, #bycatch reduction, education and outreach, and community collaboration, which is helping hawksbills in El Salvador to recover. In 2007, 100% of nests were consumed. In 2024, 99% were protected. #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Bryan P. Wallace discussed his projects to work with fishers and reduce leatherback #seaturtle #bycatch in Trinidad and Tobago. "Co-created solutions take time to build trust, but ensure equitable, long-term, win-win outcomes."
#ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Andrew Mauer described how the Important Marine Turtle Area (IMTA) process can inform #seaturtle #conservation policy. #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Shannon Gore shared how her group built a collaborate framework for #seaturtle recovery in the British Virgin Islands. Strategic partnerships and community collaborations were key. "In a changing ocean, resilience.... will belong to the strongest collaborations." #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Kelly Ann Howlett summarized 2 decades of community led #seaturtle #conservation in Port Hedland, Western Australia. Long term data and community involvement are key! #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Leora Radetsky discussed the problem of light pollution, stating that it is often treated as a spectrum only problem. There are so many additional components that should be addressed to protect #seaturtles. #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Kelleigh Downs described using thermal imagery to monitor hawksbill #seaturtles in Hawaii. Females, hatchlings, and non-native predators could be detected. #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

True!

Brian Shamblin presented a new approach to characterize successfully breeding male loggerhead and green #seaturtles by genotyping sperm trapped in the perivitelline (PVM) membrane. So cool! #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Alessandra Cani used stable isotope analysis to assess there demographic relevance of new loggerhead #seaturtle nesting on the Western Mediterranean. The recent increase in nesting events seems to be contributing to recruitment. #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Carlos Carreras used genomic tools to characterize emerging #seaturtle nest sites in Italy. Found no relatedness among regions. #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Jamie Adkins investigated whether there is a genetic component to leatherback #seaturtle migration in the Pacific. Found that they're is a genetic component. Genomic differences likely have functional consequences for migratory traits. #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Camila Domit analyzed leatherback #seaturtle strandings in Brazil. #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Patricia Guedes investigated seasonal migration and genomic patterns in green #seaturtles in Poilão Island, West Africa. Found that Poilão is a panmictic nesting population. Any genomic differentiation is subtle and possibly localized. #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Ronel Nel assessed global #seaturtle population trends. Found population in half of the Regional Management Units (RMUs) are increasing. 4 of 7 turtles species are increasing. However data is lacking since 2010. #l#ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Jamie Clark is developing methods to age Kemp's ridley #seaturtles using Near-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy. Found the method is great for aging juvenile turtles up to maturity. #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Chia-Ling Fong analyzed the wild recovery of green #seaturtles in Taiwan from anthropogenic injuries. Incorporated citizen science and sightings data. Found many minor wounds heal in 491 +- 240 days, while severe wounds take longer, 600 +- 190 days. #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Teal Guetschow investigated the use of flashing green LED lights to reduce loggerhead #seaturtle #bycatch in Trinidad and Tobago. Found 59% reduction in bycatch. Also received positive feedback from fishers involved in the experiment. #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Sarah Milton investigated plastic ingested by #seaturtles in Florida. Found no real difference between species or sex for color, structure, or polymer. There were differences among age classes. #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Brett Wilson assessed the effectiveness of a fisher-developed bycatch reduction device in the NC blue crab fishery. Narrow Funnel Devices were shown to reduce diamondback terrapin bycatch without impacting crab catch. These are now being adopted in the fishery. 👏👏 #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Mathieu Barret presented 23 years of data on #seaturtle strandings on Reunion Island. Over 66% of strandings were due to anthropogenic reasons, including boat strikes, pollution, accidental hooking, and poaching. #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Andrea Kraetzer investigated the effect of buoy-less gillnets on #seaturtle #bycatch. In contrast with a previous study, she found that this type of net increased turtle bycatch by 200%. She cautioned this could be due to contextual variation, but it bears consideration. #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Lyndsey Howell used sediment chemical fingerprinting of aspirated sediment in #seaturtles and an analysis of foraging effort to link strandings to specific fisheries. #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Kayla Burgher tested solar- powered, flashing green LED lights as a means of reducing #seaturtle #bycatch in pound net fisheries. Found these lights reduce bycatch overall more than battery operated, static LED lights. Solar powered are easier for fishers to deploy. A win-win! #ISTS44 #ISTS2026

Marina M.P.B. Fuentes assessed the impact of vessels on #seaturtles in Florida. Found that vessels impose both direct (lethal) and indirect (behavioral & energetic) consequences. #ISTS44 #ISTS2026