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Sea turtle research, monitoring and conservation efforts were viewed through a very different lens as IOTN32 was prepared for publication in July 2020 in comparison to when IOTN31 was published earlier in the year. The impact of COVID-19 and associated social distancing and travel restrictions varies among countries in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia, yet members of the sea turtle community- which includes coastal peoples, volunteers, educators, fishers, other local stakeholders, students, journalists, writers, artists, employees of government and small and large NGOs, conservationists, and researchers- will undoubtedly be affected at levels ranging from personal to social to financial regardless of their home country.
IOTN32 presents a regional perspective on the implications of national lockdowns for sea turtle researchers and conservationists, with news from Malaysia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and the Arabian region. The issue also includes research on leatherback satellite telemetry and sea turtle rehabilitation efforts in South Africa, and novel observations of sea turtle distribution and ecology in Pakistan and the Indian state of Maharashtra. Additional articles review the potential for camera trapping studies and in situ nest protection against predators in our region. A resource of potential interest to readers are the recently released National Light Pollution Guidelines from Australia. Finally, we have a report about IOSEA MoS8.
Our thanks to the contributors and reviewers who helped us compile content for IOTN32. The IOTN team is, so far, still able to meet our goals and we look forward to bringing you Issue 33 in January 2021.
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