How Does the Percent Illumination of the Moon Relate to Sea Turtle Crawls in Okinawa?

Overview

This project seeks to understand the relationship between percent illumination of the moon and sea turtle crawls in Okinawa, Japan. The sun and moon’s collective gravitational pulls create low and high tides that are most dramatic during new (0% illuminati on) and full moon (100% illumination) phases. During high tide the distance between the water and optimal nesting habitat is shorter meaning a sea turtle would use less energy during a nesting attempt. Using 2024 nesting season data collected by Churamura, statistics were applied to determine if there is a significant difference between the number of crawls that occurred in 5 different percent illumination groups of the moon: Group A (0-20%), Group B (21-40%), Group C (41-60%), Group D (61 -80%), and Group E (81-100%). Group Ewas visibly higher, however, no statistical significance was found during analysis. Additionally, statistics were applied to determine if there is a significant difference in the crawl success rates of two percent illumination groups: 0 -50% and 50-100%. The higher percent illumination group had a slightly higher success rate, but was found to be insignificant. By determining whether the percent illumination of the moon is related to sea turtle crawls in Okinawa, recommendations can be made to help Churamura better predict when crawls occur. While no significance was found, future repetition of data collection may provide more conclusive insights. Having a higher encounter success during Churamura’s Turtle Walks will leave people with more meaningful wildlife experiences and improve public contributions to sea turtle conservation efforts. Florida Advancing Sustainable Citrus Greening Disease Management: A Comprehensive Eco - friendly Approach for the Management of Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus using trunk injection of Murraya koenigii derived biological extract and its validation through precision