Recreational diving and hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) in a marine protected area
Click here to open his Thesis (pdf)
Publications:
Hayes, C.T., Baumbach, D.S., Juma, D., Dunbar, S.G. 2016. Impacts of recreational diving on hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) behaviour in a marine protected area. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. PDF here
Published Abstracts:
Hayes, C.H., Baumbach, D.S., Juma, D., and Dunbar S.G. 2016. Does recreational diving alter hawksbill sea turtle foraging behavior? Results from a marine protected area, Honduras. Seventh Annual Research and Scholarship Symposium. April 20, 2016. Cedarville, OH. PDF here. Poster PDF here
Hayes, C.T., Baumbach, D.S., Wright, M.K., Baeza, L., Macpui, M., Salinas, L., Dunbar, S.G. 2015. Does recreational diving impact hawksbill sea turtle sighting rates? Preliminary analysis for a marine protected area, Honduras. 35th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation.19-24 April, 2015. Dalaman, Mugla, Turkey. Poster PDF here
Baumbach, D.S., Hayes, C.T., Wright, M.K., Macpui, M., Salinas, L., Dunbar, S.G. 2015. Potential hawksbill prey item distribution among dive sites in a marine protected area in Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras. 35th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation.19-24 April, 2015. Dalaman, Mugla, Turkey. Poster PDF here
Baeza, L., Hayes, C.T., Wright, M.K., Salinas, L., Dunbar, S.G. 2015. Photo Recognition for in-water identification of hawksbills in a marine potected area of Honduras. 35th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation.19-24 April, 2015. Dalaman, Mugla, Turkey. Poster PDF here
Wright, M.K., Baeza, L., Hayes, C.T., Salinas, L., Dunbar, S.G. 2015. Sightings records of hawksbills in a marine protected area of Honduras. 35th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation.19-24 April, 2015. Dalaman, Mugla, Turkey. Poster PDF here. Poster PDF here
Update on Christian's current studies and activities (2019/2020)
| Christian is well engaged in his current PhD studies at the University of Southern Mississippi and has been enjoying his studies of turtlegrass use by the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. He has completed all collections and has entered into the writing and analysis portion of his studies. |  |
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| "I am also starting to run some C and N stable isotope analysis from my samples to look at differences in the role that different primary producers and consumers play in the trophic webs at all six of my sites across the Gulf of Mexico (My sites go all the way from lower Laguna Madre, TX over to Charlotte Harbour, FL)." | ||
| "I am pretty excited about the breadth of information I am working with for this project but it is also a bit overwhelming." | ||
Update on Christian's current studies and activities (2018) |
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Christian Hayes is a Ph.D. student at the University of Southern Mississippi studying the use of turtlegrass (Thalassia testudinum) by blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) in the Gulf of Mexico. The overall goal of his research is to conduct a Gulf of Mexico-wide assessment of turtlegrass habitat use by nekton, and evaluate the support provided to blue crabs, a commercially valuable fishery species that has seen recent declines in harvest in many Gulf States. | |
The results of this research project will provide much needed information for management and conservation. Data on the relationship between turtlegrass structural complexity and nekton abundance across the Gulf of Mexico will give us a deeper understanding of the mechanistic processes underlying seagrass structural complexity and blue crab abundance, as well as and a basin-wide analysis of turtlegrass food web structure.
| Christian discusses his life in Mississippi: “Life down here in southern Mississippi is very different from the west coast. For the most part, I have been thoroughly enjoying it, but I have lived all over the USA, so adapting to different subcultures has never been difficult for me. In general, people are extremely (occasionally somewhat scarily) nice, and polite in a way that I have not experienced anywhere else. The graduate community at Southern Miss, is significantly larger and more tight-knit than any I have experienced before and I have already become involved with multiple student organizations on campus. All in all, I enjoy living down in Southern Mississippi and look forward to many more years of research to come.” |
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P.S. If you want more information about Christian’s life and research here in MS feel free to visit his blog at
http://christianinhisnaturalhabitat.blogspot.com/
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Christian examined the impacts of recreational diving on hawksbill sea turtles in Roatan, Honduras. He spent summer 2014 in the Roatan Marine Park (RMP) measuring recreational diver interactions with turtles, behavior changes in turtles, and habitat variation in hawksbill foraging areas. As part of PoTECTOR's ongoint work in Honduras, Christian's has expanded our limited knowledge of Honduran hawksbill ecology, tested hypotheses regarding the effects of SCUBA diving on hawksbill behavior, and increased local and global awareness of human-turtle interaction impacts. A working knowledge of turtle-diver interactions will enable RMP managers, conservation agencies, and government officials to design more effective management strategies for high diving areas, and implement better protocols for turtle-diver interactions in marine protected areas.
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| Christian taking observations of hawksbill sea turtle behavior | Christian arrayed in his full scuba attire |
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| Christian measuring the effect of diver presence on sea turtle behavior | Mugshot of juvenile hawksbill for photo ID analysis |
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| In addition to measuring their behavior Christian is also looking at hawksbill habitat in areas of recreational diving | A hawksbill closely following Christian's movements |