Tao Talay Aow Thai - เต่าทะเลอ่าวไทย (TTAT) is our wild sea turtle monitoring project which aims to document and track sea turtle populations throughout the Gulf of Thailand, based on natural sightings or through the Thai marine animal stranding network. The project began in early 2015 at Koh Tao, and has since amassed approximate 5000 observations of over 450 turtles across 15 years and 7 provinces. Observations and identifications typically require clear photo or video evidence of a turtle’s head, the patterns of which can be used to identify individuals. In addition, information regarding date and location of sighting are crucial. While certain areas are well represented, sea turtles from other regions (i.e. Chanthaburi, Pattani, Trat etc) remain largely unknown. Despite its history, TTAT (and its sibling Koh Tao Turtles) are largely voluntarily run and thus, data collection and analysis is a slow process. The primary means of data collection are through Facebook and email submissions, with some use of Instagram and other similar portals.
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