tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49273016183203418592024-03-05T06:05:26.431-08:00Wild InformaticsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-83208787934359296072013-09-14T14:58:00.000-07:002013-09-14T14:58:05.911-07:00Difference Between Update and Upgrade in Ubuntu<b>Update :</b><br>
Updates the <b>list of available packages</b> and their versions, but it <b>does not install</b> or upgrade any packages.
<div class='code'>apt-get update</div>
<br><br>
<b>Upgrade :</b><br>
Installs newer versions of the packages based on the updated list of available packages.
<div class='code'>apt-get upgrade</div>
<br>
After updating the lists, the package manager would know about available updates for the software already installed in a computer. This is why running update prior to upgrade is recommended.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-84295071211642972802013-09-09T22:11:00.002-07:002013-11-01T08:32:03.420-07:00Python for Scientific Computing<br />
The persuasion of a masters degree has for the last two years has exposed me to scientific computing on a regular basis. In light of that experience, scientific computing demands a distinct way of information representation, interpretation and processing. While general purpose programming languages and platforms are capable of getting the job done, a specialized scientific computing platform allows the scientist to be the scientist more often than being the programmer.<br />
<br />
There are several scientific computing platforms. MATLAB is perhaps the most widely known proprietary option. There are a few open source alternatives too, R is one example. My favorite used to be MATLAB. That changed about two years ago when I started working in Python.<br />
<br />
In my experience the following list of Python packages and modules comprise of a satisfying scientific computing environment. The libraries are listed bellow:<br />
<br />
<h3>
Core Python Packages/Modules: </h3>
<h4>
sys </h4>
For passing command line arguments to your python script<br />
<h4>
time</h4>
For timestamping or for benchmarking<br />
<h4>
string</h4>
Read and write text in different formats including parsing<br />
<h4>
math</h4>
A very handy library for, obviously, mathematical operations. This library has several built in statistical functions too.<br />
<h4>
random</h4>
Allows creating of randomized samples from various probability distribution functions.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Third Party Packages/Modules</h3>
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
<a href="http://www.scipy.org/">SciPy</a></h4>
A Python based ecosystem of open-source software for mathematics, science, and engineering.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<a href="http://www.numpy.org/">NumPy</a></h4>
The fundamental package for scientific computing with Python. Linear algebra, N dimensional array etc. Member of the SciPy ecosystem.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<a href="http://matplotlib.org/">Matplotlib</a></h4>
A library for producing publication quality 2D charts in Python. Can be integrated with GUI libraries like PyQt.<br />
<br />
<h4>
<a href="https://wiki.python.org/moin/PyQt">PyQt</a></h4>
Python bindings for a cross platform open source GUI toolkit called <a href="http://qt.digia.com/">Qt</a>. It comes with a standard set of widgets as well as the option of making custom ones. Meets the need for smart clean GUI for Scientific computing. PyQt has a good chance of becoming one of the leading GUI library for scientific and advanced computing. This video shows an impressive GUI for particle system in Maya.<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="//player.vimeo.com/video/40380911" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/40380911">PyQt GUI for Maya</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user8820302">Tim Withers</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-65291857624993500072013-09-04T18:07:00.001-07:002013-09-04T18:08:28.425-07:00Saving images of plots made in MatplotlibMatplotlib, a versatile python library for 2D plotting, allows saving images in several bitmap formats as well as vector formats like SVG.To save an image, one has to specify output format first. Then simply calling a save image function gets the job done. The following example saves an image in SVG format, then in PNG.<br />
<div class='code'>from matplotlib import pyplot as plt
#code for drawing the plot goes here
plt.savefig("output.svg")
plt.savefig("output.png")
</div>
As you can see, the library figures out the format of output from the extension of the output file name.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-60989066702180862082013-07-28T14:11:00.001-07:002013-07-28T14:11:56.723-07:00String representation of Python objectsIt is often necessary to provide string representation of the instances of different classes. Application of this can be found in debugging, dumping in a file, communication across the network, etc. Several functions in the object class of Python can be overriden to output appropriate string representations. I'm listing a few bellow:<br />
<br />
<b>__str__()</b><br />
returns an informal string representation of an object. Does not necessarily has to be a valid python expression.<br />
<br />
<b>__repr__()</b><br />
this function can be overriden to output a valid Python string. This is called by the builtin repr() function which, returns the python representation of an object. Since this is often used in debugging, it is suggested to be information rich.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-21029196431024306422013-07-01T19:16:00.001-07:002013-07-24T19:38:21.179-07:00Creating GIF animation in UbuntuFrom the manual of 'covert'
<blockquote>The convert program is a member of the ImageMagick(1) suite of tools.
Use it to convert between image formats as well as resize an image,
blur, crop, despeckle, dither, draw on, flip, join, re-sample, and much
more.
</blockquote>
The above quoted paragraph is an understatement of the abilities of convert. Besides many amazing acts, Convert is capable of creating of animated GIF images. To do so, type the following in terminal:
<div class='code'>$ convert -delay 100 -loop 0 image*.png animation.gif</div>
For more on ImageMagick, I recommend <a href="http://www.howtogeek.com/109369/how-to-quickly-resize-convert-modify-images-from-the-linux-terminal/">this blog post</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-5524549325929582442013-06-19T17:13:00.000-07:002013-07-18T17:42:42.658-07:00Static member in PythonPython has different syntax from most common OOP languages like C++ or Java. When declaring variables, the name is not followed by a type identifier or scope modifier. For creating a static member of a class, simply write it inside the class outside of the scope of member functions. To declare a variable belonging to instance, simply add self. prefix.
<div class='code'>
class Some_class(Name_of_super_class):
static_field = 0.0
__init__() :
self.variable_belonging_to_instance = 1.0
print("object of Some_class instantiated")
@staticmethod
def static_method() :
print("static method called")
static_return = 1.0
return static_return
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-54989233330005169342013-05-30T15:56:00.002-07:002013-05-30T15:59:17.699-07:00Satisfying GUI needs in PythonThere are a few GUI libraries that can satisfy the GUI need in Python. I have tried a couple of them so far.<br />
<br />
First one I tried was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tk_%28framework%29">Tk</a>, an open source, cross-platform GUI toolkit. Tk was originally developed as an extension of the Tcl scripting language. But modern Tk supports many languages, including Python. Using Tk was simple and straight forward. But the rapid learning curve of Tk quickly led me to a dead end which made me decide against using it in my current project. The low level graphics programming in Tk is done on Canvas. I needed to draw semitransparent shapes on the canvas. But using RGBA color is not supported in Tk. So I decided to move to another GUI library.
<br />
<br />
The second one I tried was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qt_%28framework%29">Qt</a>. Several licensing exists for Qt at the moment and its history is complicated. It can be safely said, Without getting into details, that there is a GNU GPL 3.0 licensed version of Qt is available. For using with Python, PyQt4 can be downloaded and installed.
<br />
<div class="code">sudo apt-get install python-qt4
</div>
Working with Qt also turns out to be pretty straight forward and simple. This framework also supports building of custom widgets and use of RGBA color is also supported. That's all I needed for the time being. I'm a happy coder now.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-33912211364653885802012-12-02T11:29:00.000-08:002012-12-02T11:29:25.540-08:00Calling C functions from PythonPython is capable of calling functions from a C library. Say, we have the following C code which needs to be used in a python script. I'm using Ubuntu 12.04 with python 2.7.
<div class='code'>int add(int a, int b) {
return (a+b) ;
}
</div>
First the C code has to be compiled as a shared library.
<div class='code'>$ gcc -fpic -c c_code.c
$ gcc -shared -o c_code.so c_code.o
</div>
Then the shared library has to be copied to /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/
<div class='code'>$ sudo cp c_code.so /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/</div>
The following python script imports the shared library and invokes functions from it.
<div class='code'>from ctypes import cdll,c_int
lib = "c_code.so"
dll = cdll.LoadLibrary(lib)
add = (lambda x,y: dll.add(c_int(x), c_int(y)))
print(add(1,1))
print(add(2,3))</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-61328148379162983672012-11-30T22:10:00.001-08:002012-12-02T11:30:02.784-08:00Fixing broken merge list in UbuntuSometime broken merge list poses a barricade on the path of further updates. To fix this problem, the old (flawed) merge list has to be removed first, then a new one has to be created. In Ubuntu 12.04, the following worked for me.
<div class='code'>sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/* -vf
sudo apt-get update
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0Windsor, ON, Canada42.3183446 -83.034242342.224417100000004 -83.1921708 42.4122721 -82.8763138tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-81831743103470011122012-11-07T08:11:00.000-08:002012-12-02T11:35:34.524-08:00Opening a Terminal Anywhere in UbuntuBeing able to open a terminal from any location on the file system tree (even when you're logged in on a remote server) is a very useful feature. Installing nautilus-open-terminal provides this option in the context menu. To install,
<div class='code'>$ sudo apt-get install nautilus-open-terminal</div>
Natuilus file system needs to be reset after installation. To do so,
<div class='code'>$ nautilus -q</div>
Right click to bring up the context menu and be happy to see the 'Opne in terminal' option :)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-57152465042947074702012-10-13T07:49:00.001-07:002012-12-02T11:34:48.800-08:00Matplotlib<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://matplotlib.org/mpl_examples/pylab_examples/polar_bar.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://matplotlib.org/mpl_examples/pylab_examples/polar_bar.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Quoting from the Matplotlib website,<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
matplotlib is a python 2D plotting library which produces
publication quality figures in a variety of hardcopy formats and
interactive environments across platforms. matplotlib can be used
in python scripts, the python and <a href="http://ipython.org/">ipython</a> shell (ala
MATLAB<sup>®<a href="http://matplotlib.org/#ftn.matlab" name="matlab">*</a></sup>
or
Mathematica<sup>®<a href="http://matplotlib.org/#ftn.mathematica" name="mathematica">†</a></sup>),
web application servers, and six graphical user
interface toolkits.</blockquote>
It allows generation of publication ready plots and charts from a python script. Just started using this in one of my current projects and finding it satisfactory so far. The matplotlib figures can also be exported to a number of bitmap formats and vector formats like PDF. A definite advantage compared to MATLAB.<br />
<br />
I'm using Ubuntu these days, to install Matplotlib in your Ubuntu box:<br />
<br />
1. Ubuntu software centre,<br />
or<br />
2. Install it using apt
<div class='code'>$ sudo apt-get install python-matplotlib</div> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0Windsor, ON, Canada42.3183446 -83.034242342.224417100000004 -83.1921708 42.4122721 -82.8763138tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-45462179805835479222012-10-03T13:38:00.001-07:002012-12-02T11:34:08.763-08:00Python in UbuntuMy favorite development environment for Python in Ubuntu is Eclipse. The following steps describe how to get an up and running development environment on your Ubuntu box.
<h3>1. Python</h3>
Python usually comes with the bundle but just in case:<br />
<div class='code'>$ sudo apt-get install python</div>
<h3>2. Eclipse</h3>
Eclipse is available from the Ubuntu Software Center, I usually install it from there that. Another option is to install it manually, which I never tried myself.
<div class='code'>$ sudo apt-get install eclipse sun-java6-jdk
$ sudo udate-java-alternatives -s java-6-sun</div>
<h3>3. Pydev</h3>
<ol>
<li>Run Eclipse</li>
<li>Help -> Install New Software</li>
<li>Type in "Work with": http://pydev.org/updates, name should be Python</li>
<li>Select Pydev from the list of available options, then click Next</li>
<li>Select the Python module that needs to be installed, click Next</li>
<li>Let the downloading finish, then restart Eclipse</li>
</ol>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0Windsor, ON, Canada42.3183446 -83.034242342.224417100000004 -83.1921708 42.4122721 -82.8763138tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-23135622917074954582012-10-03T12:43:00.001-07:002012-10-03T12:43:28.022-07:00Ubuntu Installer for WindowsUbuntu 12.04 (the latest version at the time of writing this) has an installer for windows which can be downloaded from <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/windows-installer">here</a>.
It allows you to download the installer as a windows executable (.exe) and perform the installation like installing many other windows applications. Thanks, Ubuntu.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0Windsor, ON, Canada42.3183446 -83.034242342.224417100000004 -83.1921708 42.4122721 -82.8763138tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-22844861093918242992012-03-31T22:18:00.000-07:002012-04-08T14:00:17.402-07:00Using LaTeX in Windows 7Despite being a supporter and believer of software freedom, often times I've to compromise and use proprietary software. Since many of the people I have to collaborate and communicate with are completely running on proprietary or mixed platform like me, its a good idea to have a list of open source and proprietary software combinations of choice.<br />
<br />
My favorite combination of software tools for using LaTeX in Windos 7 is MikTex, LEd. MikTex is the core LaTeX engine, can be downloaded for free from the miktex project's <a href="http://miktex.org/">website</a>. MikTex comes with it's own editor, but I prefer LEd since it allows arranging source files into projects. LEd can be downloaded from <a href="http://www.latexeditor.org/">here</a>.<br />
<br />
For the MikTeX+LEd combination, MikTeX must be downloaded and installed before LEd since it uses the MikTex engine for compiling documents.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-14931204030564289872012-03-27T22:06:00.005-07:002012-03-31T22:10:32.650-07:00Matlab Cell ArrayCell arrays is a tabular data structure in Matlab, useful for storing heterogeneous objects whereas arrays can hold only homogeneous objects. Elements in cell array can have different dimensions as well. Elements of cell array, called cells, can contain <br />
<div>
<ul>
<li>numeric arrays</li>
<li>strings</li>
<li>structures</li>
<li>cell arrays</li>
</ul>
</div>
Following example code creates and populates a cell array :<br />
<code><br />
A = {['1st element'] [2 3] [8 9 7; 1 2 3] ['a' 'b']};<br />
</code><br />
<br />
Index is written within curly braces e.g. <code>A{1}</code> to access the elements of a cell array. To recursively display the contents of a cell array, <code>celldisp</code> function can be used. For example, <code>celldisp(A)</code> produces the following result<br />
<br />
<code><br />
A{1} =<br />
<br />
1st element<br />
<br />
<br />
A{2} =<br />
<br />
2 3<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
A{3} =<br />
<br />
8 9 7<br />
1 2 3<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
A{4} =<br />
<br />
ab<br />
</code><br />
<br />
<br />
The contents of a cell array can be visualized with <code>cellplot</code> function, <code>cellplot(A)</code> would produce the following visualization.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnvg3RtswHbbHvIsesuXCIrli_MyIISb9t_qYsfBDAZuqUwzpy0jh39hVMeNszqwg28pCGGT0DtL8BnN92Z0UV3kymUf-Cu5N71Epa3iyXA56P8u-lbJwHFUeECrzVOjxhREJ6pdkgmio/s1600/matlab_cell_array_visualize.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnvg3RtswHbbHvIsesuXCIrli_MyIISb9t_qYsfBDAZuqUwzpy0jh39hVMeNszqwg28pCGGT0DtL8BnN92Z0UV3kymUf-Cu5N71Epa3iyXA56P8u-lbJwHFUeECrzVOjxhREJ6pdkgmio/s320/matlab_cell_array_visualize.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
This <a href="http://blogs.mathworks.com/loren/2006/06/21/cell-arrays-and-their-contents/">entry</a> on <a href="http://blogs.mathworks.com/">mathworks</a> blog can be consulted for farther information.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-66661299568538306702012-03-17T13:34:00.005-07:002012-03-17T13:47:12.880-07:00Useful keyboard shortcuts for Sciplore Mindmapping<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/SPLMM_Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/SPLMM_Logo.png" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>This post will be expanded / edited as I find more and more useful keyboard shortcuts</i></span><br />
<br />
<b>Graphical link : Crtl + L</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Select two nodes in the order (source, destination)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;">Move a node : Crtl + Arrow</span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Moves the node one higher/lower along the tree or shifts it in the ordered list of nodes in same level</span></span><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">New sibling node after selected one : Enter</span></span></b><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">New sibling node before selected one : Shift + Enter</span></span></b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>New child node : Insert</b></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-73757727049973715092012-02-13T10:37:00.000-08:002012-02-13T10:37:35.015-08:00Sciplore MindMappingSciplore MindMapping is an excellent software tool for researchers. Besides the ability to create mind maps of your brainstorming sessions, it allows linking nodes of the mind map with PDF files in your computer, import book-marks and references stored in BibTex format. Recommended for researchers in all scientific disciplines.<br />
<br />
What started as a research project by the PhD students Bela Gipp and Jöran Beel at the University of Magdeburg, Germany in 2008 is a full fledged and still growing software tool and platform assisting research in many fields. Here is a little introductory video from their <a href="http://sciplore.org/software/sciplore_mindmapping/">website</a>.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jRHqLktIMWw" width="420"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-65868992277507563342011-12-23T09:24:00.000-08:002011-12-23T09:24:37.628-08:00Sea Turtles on Malaysian Bank Notes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.bnm.gov.my/microsites/2011/banknotes/images/specimen/03_RM20.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://www.bnm.gov.my/microsites/2011/banknotes/images/specimen/03_RM20.png" width="470" /></a></div>From the website of <a href="http://www.bnm.gov.my/microsites/2011/banknotes/03_RM20.htm">Central Bank of Malaysia</a><br />
<blockquote>As ambassadors of the rich and colourful marine life found in our tropical waters, two of the most well-known species of sea turtles endemic to Malaysian waters are on the new RM20 banknote - the Hawksbill Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) and Leatherback Turtle (Dermochelys coriacea).</blockquote>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0Malaysia4.210484 101.975766000000020.9556605 92.163146500000025 7.4653075 111.78838550000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-54951712235136964472011-07-26T11:33:00.000-07:002011-12-23T09:25:40.504-08:00Algorithm for Handedness Detection of Fiddler CrabsMembers of the genus <i><b>Uca</b></i> are generally known as Fiddler crabs for the overgrown claw of the males. The following algorithm detects a male fiddler crabs handedness from a photograph. The algorithm was implemented using <a href="http://www.amazon.com/SIMULINK-STATEFLOW-Ing%C3%A9nieurs-Chercheurs-Etudiants/dp/3642117635?ie=UTF8&tag=wildinf-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Matlab R2009a</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildinf-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=3642117635" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" />.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiob_8ED7vwk4Lv-9wQj4tOMVtmaeT1AF32DFba5QlG85gTDmmzdaGwbKqmiRtWubdhbZ4ZbB9Oxlnd23VFIFvMwa1g3bV0M4A_sFbEqoCYAA2RyG48bmCcKM5OHlP5gMsI6Drd2JS_-Dk/s1600/fid2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiob_8ED7vwk4Lv-9wQj4tOMVtmaeT1AF32DFba5QlG85gTDmmzdaGwbKqmiRtWubdhbZ4ZbB9Oxlnd23VFIFvMwa1g3bV0M4A_sFbEqoCYAA2RyG48bmCcKM5OHlP5gMsI6Drd2JS_-Dk/s320/fid2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvXs7G3Kk063hKEiLjGwMXZcbQI4r6kkjSw10BEiD9RdB4S516YcFhiE0dSNz1atSdSkNNikxDtknQQrPIdlZ-TscvOP5tQxKtj2kFCfAgh_HjR0ExzeDqOF3Icoq9jU95j_JodQ-IljY/s1600/fid1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvXs7G3Kk063hKEiLjGwMXZcbQI4r6kkjSw10BEiD9RdB4S516YcFhiE0dSNz1atSdSkNNikxDtknQQrPIdlZ-TscvOP5tQxKtj2kFCfAgh_HjR0ExzeDqOF3Icoq9jU95j_JodQ-IljY/s320/fid1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<u>Assumptions :</u><br />
The photo was taken from front, close enough for the specimen to occupy significant portion of the frame.<br />
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<u>Input :</u><br />
Photograph in RGB format.<br />
<br />
<u>Procedure :</u><br />
<ul><li>convertRGB image to Lab format</li>
<li>subtract background from l to correct non-uniform lighting, enhance the resulting image</li>
<li>apply threshold</li>
<li>perform morphological opening, remove blobs with area less than 200pixel</li>
<li>dilate</li>
<li>erode</li>
<li>mark the maximum area blob, find its centroid (C1)</li>
<li>find the maximum hole in maximum area blob, find hole's centroid (C2)</li>
<li>if C1 has X coordinate less than C2 then it's a right handed crab, otherwise its left handed</li>
</ul><br />
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<u>Test results :</u><br />
The following two photos of a fiddler crab I shot near the mangrove area at Rezu Khal, Cox's Bazar was used to test the algorithm. The results are correct as can be seen from the images.<br />
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<u>Future work :</u><br />
To test the algorithm with photos taken at wide range of conditions as well as of many other species.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh21.152852262163108 92.07502285976556820.568949762163108 91.822965859765574 21.736754762163109 92.327079859765561tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-16350711695284938742011-07-23T02:23:00.000-07:002011-12-23T09:26:43.284-08:00JTP Turtle Talk (4)<a href="http://wildinformatics.blogspot.com/2011/07/jtp-turtle-talk-1.html">Part 1<br />
</a> <a href="http://wildinformatics.blogspot.com/2011/07/jtp-turtle-talk-2.html">Part 2<br />
</a> <a href="http://wildinformatics.blogspot.com/2011/07/jtp-turtle-talk-3.html">Part 3</a><br />
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Meet Jo, a 5 year old green sea turtle that we take care of. Jo was born in our hatchery in 2006. When we went to release her in the sea with her other brothers and sisters, she was found running in circles on the sand because of a weak arm. That's when we realized that something is wrong with her and a close inspection also revealed that she has no eyes. She was born this way probably due to some kind of genetic or developmental anomaly from mistreatment of the egg while transfering from the original nest. A turtle without eyes will not survive in the ocean or on land. This is just natures way of making sure that only the fittest individuals survive. So by keeping her in our sanctuary we are not tampering with the natural course here.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLwtLEXGuCy2DEF3IAFT6mSAORpeRWu0uCtbEe6UaKYoP_5XC0OGLeXC433EWM4vrDFG7wjkZKsV8QEJICXm9sxvmmodge2Lhxtq_ZpM7Fh9UZTH3hVg3ZCpi5Cksj_nZbdX-Q7b49EV8/s1600/IMG_1851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLwtLEXGuCy2DEF3IAFT6mSAORpeRWu0uCtbEe6UaKYoP_5XC0OGLeXC433EWM4vrDFG7wjkZKsV8QEJICXm9sxvmmodge2Lhxtq_ZpM7Fh9UZTH3hVg3ZCpi5Cksj_nZbdX-Q7b49EV8/s320/IMG_1851.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Jo has a lot of value in her tank on land. In the wild she would be dead, and would serve a purpose to the eco-system, but likely in a smaller way than she can on land. We keep her not as a pet, but as an educational tool to use to help protect more turtles and habitats etc. And we take good care of her here, and do treat her as a member of jtp as well. Jo eats fish and vegetables, mostly leafy green vegetables now. We used to feed her all squids and then fish with a bit of vegitable, but now she needs more leaf nutrients (like sea grass) as she gets older. We encourage all our visitors to have a close look at Jo and satisfy their curiosity about turtles. You can touch or pat her too, she is quite used to it and likes it. Get close to this turtle and leave all other turtles in the wild alone.<br />
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Jo is not yet full grown. When a green sea turtle reaches full grown, at 30 years it can be as long as 1.5 meters and weight 150 kilo. Probably she will never mate, there is no real point in it, maybe her insticts are messed up as well. She will not be getting eye surgery (people as that), our money could be much better spent on bigger issues. We would like to have her sent to a larger and better facility soon as she will be getting much larger. Maybe an aquarium, or the Marine Parks center, if they can provide for her well. If you would like to help us with this matter, please do communicate. We really need all the help we can get.<br />
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In fact, we ask everyone to live a turtle safe life. Anyone who would like to help, first and foremost, try to follow the minimum interference policy - leave the turtles alone. If you happen to spot a turtle in the water while snorkeling or diving in this island or anywhere else in the world, don't try to go and grab that animal - you will only succeed in scaring the animal and possibly hurting it too. Watch it in its natural habitat doing its natural thing. This will result in a much better experience for both you and the turtle. Also be respectful of the environment, don't litter and pollute. Try not to get involved with any kind of exploitations of sea turtles. Don't buy shell souvenirs or ornaments, don't eat turtle eggs or soup. And do not forget to spread the word among your friends and family.<br />
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Thank you for joining us today. Hope you liked our turtle talk.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0Kampong Juara, Pulau Tioman, Malaysia2.784762735639263 104.203148607128922.4336077356392631 103.92527160712892 3.1359177356392629 104.48102560712893tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-54796941161157331582011-07-23T01:44:00.000-07:002011-07-23T05:21:02.847-07:00JTP Turtle Talk (3)<a href="http://wildinformatics.blogspot.com/2011/07/jtp-turtle-talk-1.html">Part 1<br />
</a> <a href="http://wildinformatics.blogspot.com/2011/07/jtp-turtle-talk-2.html">Part 2<br />
</a><br />
The way we try to protect turtle eggs is by bringing them to an enclosed hatchery until the baby turtles hatch. This is not ideal, it is much better to leave the eggs in place where they were laid, but that is not possible here now. Still a hatchery should always be viewed as a temporary feature, not a solution. It is better to have the entire area protected and not need to take, or hide, the eggs.<br />
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At night we monitor Mentawak beach by taking turns walking the entire length of the beach 3 hours before and 3 hours after high tide. We are looking for a nesting turtle so that we can bring the eggs to the hatchery, as well as tag her to know if this turtle returns for it's next breeding season, or for reference to other projects around the world. While monitoring the beach we are also checking the hatchery for baby turtles that may have hatched.<br />
<br />
We also collect and protect eggs from 2 more beaches along the East coast of Tioman. Early each morning during the nesting season, between February and October, we check the hatchery for baby turtles, then go by boat at 7am to look for turtle tracks. We do this boat patrol with a juara family who's been collecting and selling turtle eggs for generations. Now we employ them for their valuable skill and putting it into better use - in conservation of turtles.<br />
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If there are fresh tracks on the beach we will go to where the turtle has dug a pit and possibly laid eggs. Once the eggs are located, the sand is dug away to expose the nest. The eggs are carefully removed, being careful not to rotate them. If they get rotated it will likely kill the already developing embryo, also it is important to collect the eggs soon after they are laid for the same reason. They are counted and placed in a poly-styrine with the same orientation as they were laid in the nest. The eggs are brought to hatchery where secondary nests are made to hold them there till the babies come out. The eggs are buried at the specific depth the turtle laid them in for the correct temperature for incubation. This is usually between 50 and 60cm and the temperature must be between 28 and 31 degrees Celsius. The temperature at which the egg is incubated also determines the gender of the turtle. The eggs at the bottom of the nest, also the cooler temperature will produce males, while the warmer temperature will produce females. To monitor the temperature of the sand in the hatchery a temperature logger is buried.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6ckKtHLsheA4Ym-XemSpCO8tmMZAWmlDERdW8fsPuMoegTUynwoAg7LVhLzXBI-ryYLAndDt-i3heQK6KJxEZ31cSkii03mrIeN6PTu86k8UWnuRBKg-O0mx8BoqMrJlq8ZQJ2fIS2c/s1600/IMG_1390.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs6ckKtHLsheA4Ym-XemSpCO8tmMZAWmlDERdW8fsPuMoegTUynwoAg7LVhLzXBI-ryYLAndDt-i3heQK6KJxEZ31cSkii03mrIeN6PTu86k8UWnuRBKg-O0mx8BoqMrJlq8ZQJ2fIS2c/s320/IMG_1390.jpg" /></a></div><br />
If a nest was originally found in shaded part of a beach, we put the eggs under shade in our hatchery. If they were found in a sunny area, we put them in a nest exposed to sun light.<br />
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The hatchery is moved every year so that the nests are in fresh sand. Bacteria and maggots can grow in the old nests which would then contaminate the eggs that are incubating. Also after september, any new nests must be nested further from the ocean to protect them from monsoon waves in November.<br />
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The sea turtle eggs will incubate for 7-8 weeks, (1.5 months). Many will hatch at the same time and crawl together upwards, although it is not uncommon for one or two turtles to hatch before or after a group of them hatch. We check the hatchery frequently so that the baby turtles are not spending much time inside the basket outside. We put the turtles into a poly-styrine box with a wet cloth at the bottom and keep them in the dark so that they will sleep and conserve their energy. Immediately we return the baby turtles to the beach where their eggs came from and release them. The same beach is important to maintain the natural situation, if turtles nest at that beach still it is for a reason and we dont want to manipulate them. We want to release the turtles as soon as possible so that their energy is used to swim, and it is their instinct to swim when first born so it is important that they get the chance to. We do not keep the baby turtles because less human interference is better, Turtles can survive just fine without human “help” or interference, what they need is for beapole to leave them alone with more space to live. The turtles have extra energy when they are born, used for swimming out to open water, away from land and natural predators, such as birds and sharks. If you keep the turtles their wasting their energy making them slower and more vulnerable when they are released. Ten days after the last turtle has hatched, we excavate the nest. We dig out the eggs shells to count how many are empty to calculate a hatchling success rate.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6008/5937543996_c1f41fbaba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="375" width="460" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6008/5937543996_c1f41fbaba.jpg" /></a></div><br />
But we have to remember, protecting the habitat is equally important from a conservation point of view. Most of our work done to protect the turtles today will show results 25-30 years later. The hatchlings released in to the wild today will come back 30 years later for the first time to lay eggs on the same beach. Now imagine in what state will this beach be 30 years later. Will the scenic Mentawak beach be still be the undeveloped remote beach it is, or will it become just another overdeveloped holiday resort in south-east Asia ? If we cannot protect the habitat, all our efforts in sea turtle conservation is not really worthwhile. The coming generations of turtles will not find a place to nest and that probably be the end of it for the turtles of this island. Right now, we are trying to get a legal sanction to prevent over exploition of this beach and its natural settings but this is a lengthy and on going legal procedure.<br />
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<i>(to be continued ...)</i>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-78610109210807680072011-07-22T10:15:00.000-07:002011-07-23T05:22:20.926-07:00JTP Turtle Talk (2)<a href="http://wildinformatics.blogspot.com/2011/07/jtp-turtle-talk-1.html">Part 1</a><br />
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So what do we do at JTP ? We focus on sustaining the turtle population, habitat defence and raising awareness. This brings us to understand and work with the nature, people, economy and politics of this island. We are not hippies or treehuggers, we are working toward a specific goal here. We work toward not having to run a conservation effort like this because people will be conscious and protective of nature around them and wild life in the area including sea turtles.<br />
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Sea turtles have many natural predators at different stages of their lives. For the eggs in a nest on the beach, any animal that can dig is a threat. Dogs, lizards, crabs, snakes etc. For the hatchlings coming out of the eggs the threat is from birds, crabs and carnivore animals on the beach. Once they reach the ocean, any fish bigger than them is a predator. This includes sharks, barracuda etc. Sharks will prey upon sea turtles untill they reach a certain size when they become quite a mouthfull for a shark, that's when sharks usually leave them alone. After reaching maturity, there is hardly any animal posing threat to sea turtles, except humans.<br />
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<img alt="Green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) drowned in a gillnet. Turtles become entangled and are unable to surface to breathe." src="http://newswatch-media.nationalgeographic.com/files/2010/04/green-turtles-bycatch-photo.jpg" style="width: 480px;" /><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) drowned in a gillnet. Turtles become entangled and are unable to surface to breathe.</span><br />
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Humans kill sea turtles by accident and also by purpose. Accidental killing can occur in many forms. Fishing by-catch is responsible for most accidental sea turtle deaths. Turtles often fall victim of long line fishing, trawling and other fishing methods. Since they need to breathe air, they will drown if subjected to stay under water for a long time caught in a fishing net, hook or other fishing device. There are devices like TED(Turtle Excluder Device) that enables commercial fishing boats to catch fish from the sea without harming bigger animals like turtles and dolphins. It's mandetory in many parts of the world to use TED in commercial fishing boats, but the law is not strongly enforced everywhere.<br />
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<img alt="Loggerhead turtle escaping a turtle excluder device (TED)" src="http://0.tqn.com/d/marinelife/1/0/P/1/-/-/ted_loggerheadNOAA412x336.JPG" style="width: 480px;" /><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Loggerhead turtle escaping a turtle excluder device (TED)</span><br />
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Besides this, turtles can also die from collision with boats. Since their backbone is connected with the shell on their back, any fracture or injury to the shell actually means a major damage to the spinal chord which often results in death of the turtle.<br />
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Pollution is another turtle killer. We often throw out plastic bags in to the ocean or rivers without thinking twice. The leatherback turtles feed on jelly fish and plastic bags floating in sea look like jelly fish. When a turtle eats a plastic bag, it's digestive track is blocked and can also lead to the turtle's death.<br />
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Light pollution also affects the turtles badly. When sea turtle hatchlings come out of a nest, they look towards the horizon to determine the direction to the sea. Naturally, the ocean side of the horizon always is a little brighter than the mainland side and this faint natural light shows them the way. Now imagine some man made light source like street lamps along a high way running along the coast, lights from hotels, chalets, resturaunt and bars on the beach or simply someone's brightly lit house. Light from these sources are much brighther than the faint natural light on the horizon and hatchlings are distracted toward them. Instead of heading to the ocean, baby turtles end up in bars. Or some other place in the dry land where they can be preyed upon by other animals or would die simply from exhaustion or dessication.<br />
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Something seemingly innocent as beach furniture can also kill a turtle. Imagine a beach chair left unattended on the beach gets washed away into the ocean and traps a turtle under it and eventually the animal drowns. When a mother turtle comes up to nest, she is very picky about the nesting site. Noise, bright light, obstacles like beach furniture or the mere presence of humans will make her turn back to the ocean. But how long can a turtle carry 150 eggs ? She has to get rid of them at some point because her body will be producing more eggs soon. She will try as long as she can hold, but if she cannot find a suitable place to nest she will dump all the eggs in the water.<br />
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Humans kill turtles on purpose too, more than by accident. We hunt them for meat, we collect turtle eggs for consumption. In certain cultures, sea turtle soup is considered a delicacy. In fact, the green turtle was named so because the soup they make from this kind of turtle is green. This is because the fat inside the turtle's body is green in color. Another kind of turtle, the hawksbill is often hunted down by turtle poachers. Hawksbills feed on a venomous sponge growing on corals and this makes their meat poisonous for humans. But it's not the meat that people are after, they are after the beautiful black, brown and amber shell that these turtles have. Sea turtle shell souveniers like sunglass frames, buttons, combs etc. are traditionally made from hawksbill shells. People kill turtle for cultural or religious purpose too. In some cultures, killing a turtle is a rite of passage for male members of the community.<br />
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<i>(to be continued ...)</i><br />
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<hr><br />
Image credit :<br />
1. Projeto Tamar Brazil-Image Bank<br />
2. <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/">NOAA</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-34235986261421841332011-07-22T01:57:00.000-07:002011-07-23T05:27:30.681-07:00JTP Turtle Talk (1)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2FCs5AYzl3EJcL-Azz6uOJI-R5bkjjPamBOyjPjZk6REEKA2_R5Y5DCU6OrgP4bYmHPg88CQnVuAJAJMkD0Onyc8B3xK70EtTGx1tAU2E1NlY4dTJ5oui3UaQpsHc2cTMePXBP9Obn4w/s1600/IMG_1777.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2FCs5AYzl3EJcL-Azz6uOJI-R5bkjjPamBOyjPjZk6REEKA2_R5Y5DCU6OrgP4bYmHPg88CQnVuAJAJMkD0Onyc8B3xK70EtTGx1tAU2E1NlY4dTJ5oui3UaQpsHc2cTMePXBP9Obn4w/s320/IMG_1777.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
Charlie doing the turtle talk</div><br />
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<i>I volunteered in the <a href="http://www.juaraturtleproject.com/">Juara Turtle Project</a> for a month in June 2011. Every morning and evening we would give a 45 minutes long 'Turtle Talk' to interested tourists, followed by a tour of the hatchery and a chance to meet Jo - the blind Gree turtle that JTP have been taking care of since 2006.</i><br />
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<i>The talk covers basic information about sea turtles, their conservation status around Tioman island and around the world in general and the goals and operations of JTP. We took turns to give the talk and everyone would say it a little differently, in his or her own way. After coming back home, I decided to write down how I used to present it. Thanks to Charles Fisher for giving me the permission to put it in my blog as well as providing with some much needed documents to use as reference. It should be noted that this turtle talk is always changing with every presenter and being edited periodically. Also, the information presented about sea turtles is no where near exhaustive. Any interested reader is advised consulting other sources.</i><br />
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***<br />
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Hello everyone, welcome to Juara Turtle Project. We are a privately owned and funded sea turtle conservation effort in this island. We are not a zoo, we do not and cannot entertain guest all day. Besides the usual tasks related to conservation, running this station itself is a lot of work. That's why we open up to visitors twice everyday at 11:00AM and 4:00PM. Thank you again for joinig us today hope you will enjoy the 'Turtle Talk'.<br />
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-<br />
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Sea turtles are one of the most ancient animals living on this planet. They have been around for more than a hundred million years, since the time of the dinosaurs. In this long time they have changed very little because they are very well adapted to their natural environment. <br />
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Sea turtles are marine animals, they live in the ocean. But they breathe air, not like fish. So they need to come up for air. Also, unlike land turtles, they cannot retreat their head and limbs inside the shell and they have flippers instead of feet.<br />
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<img src="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0017/7280/image002.gif" style="width: 480px;" /><br />
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Here we can see the life cycle of sea turtles. Mother turtle comes on the beach to lay eggs. It takes about two months for the eggs to hatch. Once the hatchlings come out, they head straight towards the sea. In the sea, they will be carried away by ocean currents in to deep open waters where they will live their juvenile years. Traditionally this part of their life, the pelagic stage, was called lost years because people did not know where they disappear after birth. Once they grow big, they come to the feeding grounds close to coastal areas. When turtles reach sexual maturity, they will go to the breeding grounds during breading season. These animals are great swimmers and they migrate long distances. Their feeding and breeding grounds are often thousand kilometers apart. They don't form pairs, so they will meet their mates by chance. Once a female turtle is ready to lay eggs, she will climb up the same beach where she was born, called natal beach, to lay eggs. A mature female can nest up to nine times in a single breeding season. Interestingly enough, the male sea turtle never comes back to land.<br />
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There are seven different species of sea turtles found all over the world.<br />
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<ul><li>Kemp's Ridley Turtle</li>
<li>Olive Ridley Turtle</li>
<li>Hawksbill Turtle</li>
<li>Green Turtle</li>
<li>Leatherback Turtle</li>
<li>Flatback Turtle</li>
<li>Loggerhead Turtle</li>
</ul><br />
We used to have 4 species of turtles nesting in this island, but now we have only 2 species left. Would anyone like to take a guess which are the two kind of turtles we still have on this island ?<br />
-<br />
<i>At this point the audience are asked to take a guess to make it feel interactive. If there are children present, which was often the case, it draws their attention.</i><br />
-<br />
Well, we have Greens and Hawksbills nesting in this island. We used to have Leatherbacks and Olive Ridleys too, but nobody has seen any of those two kinds coming to this island in last 15 years. We have lost 50% of biodiversity in sea turtle population from this island in less than two decades.<br />
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This is actually just a small part of the big picture. For last two hundred years, these animals have faced rapid population decline due to the changes we have brought to the enviroment through widespread industrialization and expansion. Naturally, 1 in 1000 sea turtle hatchling's survive till reaching reproductive age. But considering the human intervention, this number becomes 1 in 10000. So we are responsible for 90% of turtle death. It's us - the people who are responsible for their decline. If we are the problem, we can be the solution too. Turtles were doing just fine before humans started to mess with the environment, we believe turtles will do fine again if we leave them alone before it's too late. As conservationists, This is the awareness that we try to spread among local people as well as tourists coming to the island.<br />
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<i>(to be continued ...)</i><br />
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<hr /><br />
image credit:<a href="http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/corp_site/key_issues/conservation/natural_values/marine_turtles/lifecycles"><br />
http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-4940316551721280042011-07-17T10:49:00.000-07:002011-07-20T03:45:39.089-07:00Map of Mentawak Beach<a href="http://www.juaraturtleproject.com/">Juara Turtle Project</a> is a sea turtle conservation effort at the Juara village of Tioman island in Malaysia. Currently they are monitoring three beaches on the east coast of Tioman. Depending on tide schedule, the conservationists at JTP take turns patrolling the Mentawak beach every night.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzaRiN1V0LYHScfCMAb_BKxHGSV6Y2A1NuifXyjxne0eiPLfunLwKuO88HWBVX91paVlV1_hqqHg0bvTQDqDDp_ygoDKzd5JF2l6UoeMU4scPuiTKncRDbpzRx7uRiNY8p6Izi9Abnlg/s1600/mentawakmap.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTzaRiN1V0LYHScfCMAb_BKxHGSV6Y2A1NuifXyjxne0eiPLfunLwKuO88HWBVX91paVlV1_hqqHg0bvTQDqDDp_ygoDKzd5JF2l6UoeMU4scPuiTKncRDbpzRx7uRiNY8p6Izi9Abnlg/s320/mentawakmap.png" /></a></div><br />
I surveyed the Mentawak beach while volunteering at JTP for a month. This map of Pasir Mentawak(Mentawak Beach) is based on the GIS data collected through out June 2011. High-tide line, low-tide line, vegetation line along with some important geographic features and landmarks are shown on this map. A <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-eTrex-Handheld-GPS-Navigator/dp/B000PDV0CE?ie=UTF8&tag=wildinf-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969">Garmin Etrex</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wildinf-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B000PDV0CE" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important; padding: 0px !important" /> GPS receiver was used for data collection. These low cost GPS receivers being sand and water resistant are ideal for the job IMHO. An open source graphics editor, <a href="http://inkscape.org/">Inkscape</a> was used to plot the map. The image posted in this blog entry is a low resolution bitmap. Vector version in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalable_Vector_Graphics">Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)</a> format or a PDF file is available upon request.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4927301618320341859.post-88885458759669618242011-07-12T09:32:00.000-07:002011-07-20T04:05:06.349-07:00Plants can damage sea turtle eggs tooAny sea turtle conservationist in charge of a hatchery should watch out for animals that can dig. Dogs, crabs, lizards, rats, snakes etc. animals are natural threat to eggs in any sea turtle nest on the beach and they will gladly play the same role against secondary nests that have been set up in a hatchery. Although it sounds incredible, trees can also damage the eggs by growing roots around or into the eggs.<br />
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<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyYZVtEKRe8MKsQpFsC78q9NcXFlUj_eFDGHVQwG8wF39vjiqojZ1Mdrqj9LSlXN5pYweDpUtXVmGLXveCOSIef4LjrjqbtUKyOq3v2S6blONikSz_rzx0AAmvOw4CtYYm08shMjX-Ps/s1600/e2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyYZVtEKRe8MKsQpFsC78q9NcXFlUj_eFDGHVQwG8wF39vjiqojZ1Mdrqj9LSlXN5pYweDpUtXVmGLXveCOSIef4LjrjqbtUKyOq3v2S6blONikSz_rzx0AAmvOw4CtYYm08shMjX-Ps/s320/e2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628510729345023362" border="0" /></a><br />
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOobYp2mJpgWXhUayf8-EALTtw1hzj9IdNWLICv2ZyS7lnL5O5IQCf9cSzPSJQ-ZU7ZrTD7U6lGhJettqan9oHo3D_2QDSvF_EinJwsnc9hTMpzCz7PgNXdOzQvMvL9C9cRFemzJbjcQk/s1600/e3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOobYp2mJpgWXhUayf8-EALTtw1hzj9IdNWLICv2ZyS7lnL5O5IQCf9cSzPSJQ-ZU7ZrTD7U6lGhJettqan9oHo3D_2QDSvF_EinJwsnc9hTMpzCz7PgNXdOzQvMvL9C9cRFemzJbjcQk/s320/e3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5628510729633719410" border="0" /></a><br />
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In a recent excavation of a secondary nest in <a href="http://www.juaraturtleproject.com/">Juara Turtle Project</a>, some eggs were found damaged in this way. While some of the eggs were completely entangled with the roots growing all around, others were found damaged by the roots breaking the shell and growing into the egg.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02460347899024467837noreply@blogger.com0