Applications of Photo Identification in Sea Turtle Studies

After a brief introduction on the topic of photo identification (PID), the chapter leads into new insights and advances in the recently developed use of PID in sea turtle research. This chapter focuses on the application of PID in three case studies from around the world. The first case study centers on the French territory of Reunion Island and the use of PID for identifying and gathering long-term data on resident green turtles. The second case study demonstrates the application of PID for estimating home ranges of juvenile hawksbill turtles in a marine protected area in Roatén, Honduras. The final case is centered on the use of PID to analyze population dynamics of foraging green and hawksbill turtles in the Maldives. Each case ends with specific lessons learned. The chapter concludes with an overall summary of the application lessons learned to the wider context of sea turtle research, and a brief description of potential uses of PID in sea turtle research in the future.