ARDUINO UNO MONITORING SYSTEM : SAND TEMPERATURE AND

MOISTURE LEVELS OF SEA TURTLE NEST

NURUL AIN MAWADDAH BINTI JAMAHARI

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONS.) MARINE TECHNOLOGY IN THE FACULTY

OF APPLIED SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY TEKNOLOGI MARA

FEBRUARY 2022

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 ARDUINO UNO MONITORING SYSTEM : SAND TEMPERATURE AND
MOISTURE LEVELS OF SEA TURTLE NEST

NURUL AIN MAWADDAH BINTI JAMAHARI

Final Year Project Report Submitted In Partial Fulfilment of The Requirements for
The Degree of Bachelor of Science (Hons.) Marine Technology In The Faculty of
Applied Sciences

Universiti Teknologi MARA

FEBRUARY 2022

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Praises all to Allah, the Almighty for His permissions and blessings that has been
showered throughout my proposal research process. With His guidance I manage to
complete the proposal successfully.

I would like to express my gratitude and to my research supervisor, Sir Jamil Tajam. With
his dedicate I manage gaining new knowledge throughout the process. Without the
opportunity and ideas that has been shared, my proposal will not complete. He manage to
he;[ me with the proposal process and methodology clearly as possible. It was a great
honor to be able work and study under his guidance.

Last but not least, my special thanks goes to everyone that has been involved directly or
indirectly throughout my proposal process also supported for my mentally and physically.
Without their support, I will not able to complete my proposal.

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 Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 3

CHAPTER 1 5

1.1 Background of the study 5

1.2 Problem statements 6

1.3 Objectives of the study 6

1.4 Limitations of the study 6

CHAPTER 2 7

2.1 Introduction to Sea Turtle 7

2.2 Factors for Sea Turtle eggs hatchlings 8

2.3 Sea turtle status in ASEAN 9

2.4 Sea turtle status in Malaysia 10
2.5 Sea turtle nest monitoring technology 14
2.6 Arduino as monitoring technology 15
CHAPTER 3 17

3.1 Materials 17

3.2 System Planning 18

3.3 System Testing 19

REFERENCES 20

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 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Turtles are classified as oviparous animals because of the way they reproduce. The parent
body is where egg fertilization occurs. The fetus contained in the parent's eggs developed
fully outside the body. Normal development of a turtle fetus necessitates the temperature and
water content of the nest environment or hatching. TSD (Temperature Dependent Sex
Determination) animals are turtles. During the incubation period, the nest sand temperature is
a combination of ambient and egg temperatures. The ideal temperature for successful egg
incubation in turtles is between 25 and 33 degrees Celsius. When the temperature inside the
nest exceeds the temperature limit, the embryo will not grow and will die. When the
temperature is less than 29 degrees Celsius, the majority of them are male hatchlings.
Otherwise, if the temperature rises above 29 degrees Celsius, the majority of the hatchlings
will be female. Egg incubated in an artificial incubator with temperature induction at 30-33°
C, which produces sex female, and 26-27° C, which produces sex male. By selecting a
location to lay eggs, you can determine the moisture level of sand in a related nest. Turtle
prefers sand because it has a low moisture content and tends to dry out. The water content of
the nest environment is critical for embryo survival. Excessive water content can lead to high
humidity. High humidity in the nest environment promotes the growth of fungi and bacteria,
which can cover the pores of the eggshell. (Santoso et al., 2021)

Turtle monitoring is an important step in determining the level of success of turtle

conservation management efforts. In terms of time, monitoring activities are carried out
routinely, periodically, and incidentally, depending on the condition of the turtle population
and the intensity of turtle presence in a turtle conservation area. This study aims to develop a
turtle nests real time monitoring system using the Arduino Uno to measure the temperature
and moisture levels of sand used conveniently for certain applications. Sand temperature and
moisture measurement uses soil moisture sensor that connected with Arduino Uno. The
micro-SD card module is used to store data from sensor calculations in real-time and
continuously. The measuring instrument was designed to be portable and easy to be used.

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1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT

For this research, the Arduino will connect to soil moisture sensor, power supply and SD card
module. This project signifies one of the efforts to identify the optimum temperature and
moisture levels of sands for sea turtles nest. There has not much research and innovations sea
turtles nest.

One of the main problems that can be seen when dealing with data collecting for sea turtles
nest is to collect temperature and moisture level of sea turtles at conservation place for sea
turtles. There are no records and data that can be collected by the conservation place. With
this AUMS : Sand temperature and moisture levels for sea turtles nest, the data can be record
and collect for sea turtles laying eggs in hatchery. From the data, we can form a hypothesis
which grammatical class for sea turtles eggs in nest will produce.

1.3 Objective of the study

Each monitor has different design and parts that can be installed to operate with different
purpose task given. For this AUMS : Sand temperature and moisture levels for sea turtle nest
main aim is to get it to function fully with the use of an Arduino Uno and SD card reader with
addition of battery as power supply. The objectives for this project are:

1. To determine sand temperature and moisture levels of sea turtle nest using soil
moisture sensor.
2. To examine relationship between soil temperature and moisture level of sea turtle nest
for sea turtles fertility for sea turtles hatchlings.

1.4 Limitations of the study

The limitations of this study are the temperature and moisture levels in nest of the sea turtle
eggs. The eggs are dependent on the nest temperature and moisture level while incubate
period. To collect the data, it can only use Arduino uno and soil moisture sensor to determine
the temperature and moisture level. Next, the SD card will be used to store the temperature
and moisture data. This research will need few days to collect the appropriate data.

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 CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction to Sea Turtle

Sea turtles were born during the Cretaceous period and outlived dinosaurs by 65 million
years. Seven different species of sea turtles live in our oceans today, they are part of a single
radiation that separated from all other turtles at least 110 million years ago. During that
radiation, sea turtles split into two major subgroups that still exist today: the unique family
Dermochelyidae, which consists of a single species, the leatherback, and the six species of
hard-shelled sea turtles, which include the green sea turtle in the Chelonidae family. (Eckert,
2012)

Sea turtles typically lay their eggs at night. When a gravid female turtle crawls out of the
water and above the high-tide line, the female turtle begins the nesting process, which
consists of a set of behaviours. This begins with synchronised front flipper beating and
sweeping with the rear flippers to create a 'body pit' in the sand. The female then alternately
digs a hole straight into the ground with her rear flippers. Once the turtle has dug as far as it
can, which for leatherback turtles can be up to 80 cm deep, it widens the walls at the bottom
of the hole, creating a pear-shaped chamber in which to lay its eggs. A single clutch may
contain 50 to 150 eggs. The eggs of sea turtles are 3–6 cm in diameter and have soft, leathery
shells. After laying the clutch, the turtle sweeps sand over the nest with its back flippers.
After the previous area has been completely covered, the turtle throws sand with both front
and rear flippers to effectively conceal the area. A female can nest between one and fourteen
times in a single nesting season. To this extent, some sea turtle species' reproductive output
can exceed 1000 eggs in a single nesting season.(Paladino, 2013)

Females typically nest several times throughout the season. Green turtles, for example, nest 5
times per season on average. Because nesting requires a lot of energy from the mother turtles,
most females only nest every 2-4 years. Nonetheless, females will frequently return to the
same beach where they nested years ago.

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2.2 Factors for Sea Turtles eggs hatchlings.

Main factors of Sea turtle egg produce its hatchlings are depends on its temperature and
moistures level in the nest. Temperature also has an effect on the percentage of eggs within
each nest that hatch and leave the nest. (Santidria´n Tomillo et al., 2009). The ideal
temperature for successful egg incubation in turtles is between 25 and 33 degrees Celsius.
When the temperature inside the nest exceeds the temperature limit, the embryo will not grow
and will die. When the temperature is less than 29 degrees Celsius, the majority of them are
male hatchlings. Otherwise, if the temperature rises above 29 degrees Celsius, the majority of
the hatchlings will be female. Egg incubated in an artificial incubator with temperature
induction at 30-33° C, which produces sex female, and 26-27° C, which produces sex male.
(Santoso et al., 2021)

Sea turtles frequently abandon the nesting process if they come across any hard surface while
chambering, such as roots, dead coral, or gravel. She may then move to another location and
resume body pitting as described above, or she may immediately return to the water, most
likely returning to the same beach the next night. Once the nest chamber is built, the turtle
lays eggs through the ovipositor, dropping two to three eggs at a time until there are about a
hundred eggs per clutch. It is thought that when the eggs touch the turtle's tail, it signals that
the nest chamber is full.

A turtle will conceal the nest cavity with her rear-flippers once egg deposition is complete.
The turtle will then rest for about 5 minutes. During this brief window, conservationists can
safely measure morphological characteristics and attach identification tags before the turtle
begins to cover the nest with both front flippers. Turtles moved forward a few metres at a
time, dispersing sand over the covered egg chamber with their front flippers. This
camouflaging behaviour resulted in an elongated mound of sand on the origin nest chamber,
which confuses potential predators (this is commonly referred to as creating a "false nest").
The turtle will crawl back to the sea as soon as the nest is covered.(Rusli, 2020)

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2.3 Turtle status in ASEAN

Recognizing the need to conserve and protect sea turtle populations from further depletion, as
well as growing awareness and concern among relevant authorities, the general public, and
non-governmental organisations, ASEAN Member Countries are focusing more attention on
the issue of sea turtle conservation. The critical stages of nesting and hatchling release on the
beach are being given special attention. As a result, management programmes are oriented
toward the establishment of turtle hatcheries, and hatchery operation as a conservation
technique is now far more widely practised in the region than anywhere else on the planet,
with operations found in the majority of ASEAN Member Countries. (Talib et al., 2003)

Turtle eggs are protected by being relocated to fenced hatcheries built near nesting beaches.
Inside the hatcheries, the eggs are protected from human poaching and predation by wild
animals, as well as natural hazards such as erosion and high tide. One issue that the ASEAN-
SEAFDEC researchers have already identified is the biassed sex ratio of hatchlings incubated
at a constant hatchery temperature, and appropriate corrective actions have already been
initiated to address the issue. A tagging programme has also been implemented because sea
turtles are exceptionally migratory and are known to move through the waters of the
Southeast Asian region. Tagging experiments provide comprehensive biological information
on parameters such as migration, growth, mortality, and reproduction, which is critical for the
proper management of ASEAN's sea turtles. (Talib et al., 2003)

This is to show the status of sea turtle hatcheries and tagging activities in eight
ASEANSEAFDEC member countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. This is to demonstrate various regional
initiatives to improve turtle populations and resources, reflecting all ASEAN Member
Countries' long-term commitment. All SEAFDEC Member Countries consider sea turtles to
be important species, some of which are critically endangered. All eight Member Countries
whose activities are discussed in this article are committed to improving their conservation
efforts. Setting up hatcheries so that sea turtle eggs have a better chance of hatching is one of
the most important conservation tools.The tagging programme will provide valuable
ecological data, such as geographical range and migratory path, breeding and inter-nesting
frequencies, growth rates, and population size.(Talib et al., 2003)

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2.4 Turtle status in Malaysia

Malaysia is home to four of the world's seven sea turtles. Green turtles (Chelonia mydas),
hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata), Olive Ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea), and
leatherback turtles are among them (Dermochelys coracea). Malaysia is also recognised as
one of the world's most important nesting rookeries for sea turtles (Jolis & Shankar Kumar
Sharma, 2015). Malaysian sea turtle populations are important nesting populations in the
region. However, these populations are under threat from two major threats: the trade and
consumption of turtle eggs, as well as illegal and unregulated poaching of turtles by foreign
vessels. Poaching of adult turtles and consumption of their eggs could lead to a decline in
turtle populations in the country.(Jolis & Shankar Kumar Sharma, 2015)

Malaysian hatcheries have been in operation since 1949 in Sarawak, 1961 in Kelantan and
Terengganu, 1966 in Sabah, 1971 in Penang, and 1988 in Melaka, Perak, and Pulau Pinang.
The first tagging programmes in Malaysia were reported in 1953 on the Sarawak green turtle
population. Tagging programmes in Sabah began in 1970. Terengganu began a ten-year
tagging programme for leatherback turtles in 1966. The programme was restarted in 1990
with titanium tags and expanded to include other species in 1993. Passive Integrated
Transponder Tags (PITs) were used for green turtles on Redang Island in 2003.(Talib et al.,
2003)

More than a thousand sea turtles have been tagged since tagging programmes began. The
programme has shown that leatherback turtles can nest one to eight times per season (3.3
times on average), with an average inter-nesting interval of 13.4 days. Green turtles can nest
up to ten times per season, but most only nest three to six times, with nesting intervals
ranging from nine to twelve days. (Talib et al., 2003)

When they are not nesting, sea turtles spend their lives at sea, breeding, sleeping, and, most
importantly, feeding! Each sea turtle species has a different diet: some are carnivores (eat
other animals), others are omnivores (eat both sea plants and other animals), and only the
green turtles are herbivores (eat only sea plants such as seagrass, seaweed and algae). Even
within these diets, different sea turtle species have preferred foods. Leatherback turtles, for
example, eat mostly jellyfish; loggerhead turtles eat shellfish; and hawksbill turtles eat
sponges and coral with their special beaks. Sea turtles do not spend their entire lives in one
location. They are, in fact, nature's ocean explorers. (Talib et al., 2003)

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 Figure 2.4.1: Post-nesting migration routes of all satellite-tracked green sea turtles
deployed at key Malaysian nesting beaches

Since nesting islands were designated as Marine Protected Areas in Sabah and Sarawak,
almost all sea turtle eggs have been incubated in hatcheries. Leatherback, hawksbill, and
olive ridley turtle eggs are purchased from collectors in Peninsular Malaysia and incubated in
hatcheries. At least 70% of green turtle eggs are either buried in their natural habitats or
transplanted to artificial hatcheries.(Talib et al., 2003)

Turtle conservation work at WWF-Malaysia began in the 1980s, and the current Marine
Programme aims to continue efforts in protection through transformational strategies and
approaches. Five calls to action are proposed by WWF-Malaysia: A nationwide ban on the
consumption and trade of turtles and eggs, amendments to the Federal Constitution/Federal-
State laws, increased capacity for law enforcement, Malaysia's adherence to international
commitments, and Malaysia's signing of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory
Species of Wild Animals (CMS).(Jolis & Shankar Kumar Sharma, 2015)

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 Figure 2.4.2 : Sea Turtle Species identifications that found in Malaysia.

In Malaysia, green turtles can be found nesting in Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu, Pahang,
Johor, Penang, and Perak. Like other green turtle populations elsewhere, the green turtles in
Malaysia conduct long-distance migrations from their nesting grounds to foraging grounds
and vice versa (Joseph, 2017). Genetic studies have proven that, once mature, the green
turtles in Malaysia return to their natal beaches to reproduce. Green turtles spend most of
their lives in foraging grounds but, once mature, return to their natal beaches to breed. The
primary diet of green turtles in foraging grounds consists of seagrass and marine algae. In
Malaysia, a few important foraging grounds have been identified.

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The hawksbill turtle has a circumglobal distribution throughout tropical and subtropical
waters of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. Analysis of historic and recent published
and unpublished accounts indicate extensive subpopulation declines in all major ocean basins
over the last three generations (>80%) as a result of overexploitation of adult females and
eggs at nesting beaches, degradation of nesting habitats, catching of juveniles and adults in
foraging areas, incidental mortality relating to marine fisheries, and degradation of marine
habitats. The only important remaining populations of hawksbill turtles in Southeast Asia are
found in Malaysia and Indonesia. In Malaysia, the major nesting beaches of hawksbill turtles
are in Sabah Turtle Islands (400 to 600 nests per year) and Melaka (200 to 300 nests per
year). Hawksbill turtles are also found nesting in Terengganu and Johor (10 to 50 nests per
year).

In Malaysia, olive ridley nestings are fragmentary, with nestings in Penang (< 10 nests per
year) and Sarawak (< 5 nests per year). This species is less studied in Malaysia compared
with green and hawksbill turtles.

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2.5 Turtle nest monitoring technology

Nowadays, the method in monitoring the sea turtle nest still same. The sea turtle nest
monitoring will including beach patrolling, approaching a turtle, location of nest, nest
information and nesting process(Carbón, 2009). There are not many technology that has been
constructed. Make sure the flashlight is turned off when walking on the nesting beach.
Because sea turtles are extremely sensitive to light that may cause turtles nearby to abandon
nesting and lose their eggs. Make sure the phone is on silent as well. When sea turtle
hatchlings are present, take care not to touch or disturb them. Allow them to find their own
way to the sea whenever possible. Remove any obstacles (such as plastic or nets) or predators
that stand between the hatchlings and the sea. Once again, keep flashlights to a bare
minimum.(Guidelines et al., n.d.)

Generally, it have not found any monitoring technology for sea turtle nest in the market, it
still needs the man power to monitor the sea turtle nest. New technology will be create in the
future with the future research. One research study has been found with Arduino uno as a
main object that been used. The research has been done at Bogor, Indonesia.

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2.6 Arduino as monitoring technology
For turtles, the thermal environment experienced during development plays critical roles
in many biological processes(Tezak et al., 2018). In addition to temperature, moisture
also influences embryonic development, particularly in turtle species with flexible-shelled
eggs.

i.Type of temperature sensor

Temperature control is becoming increasingly important in many automatic operations. There

are sensors, ranging from simple to smart, that are used to detect temperature. Temperature
control is used in a variety of applications, including environmental monitoring and room
temperature control. With the introduction of new technologies such as hardware and
software support, temperature can now be controlled, monitored, and recorded more flexibly
and in programmable ways. Microcontroller-based temperature control has become so
important that it serves as a standard for testing and simulating specific sensors for automatic
temperature detection and monitoring. Various types of projects, such as minor and major
projects, are carried out on appropriate hardware and software platforms. This type of
temperature sensor will help detecting sea turtle nest temperature level. (Khaing et al., 2020)

The temperature sensor is an LM35DZ. It is a temperature sensor with an analogue output

that is made of semiconductors. This sensor's temperature measurement may be more
accurate than thermistors' measurements. The LM35 device can operate in temperatures
ranging from 55°C to 150°C. The analogue output is directly proportional to temperature in
°C, which gives it a significant advantage over other sensors.(Škultéty et al., 2018)

Table ii : Parameter of the LM35DZ

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ii.Type of moisture sensor

The soil moisture sensor can be use for determine sea turtle nest moisture levels. Soil
moisture sensors are devices that measure the volumetric water content of soil. Because direct
gravimetric measurement of free soil moisture necessitates the removal, drying, and weighing
of a sample, soil moisture sensors indirectly measure the volumetric water content by using
another property of the soil as a proxy for the moisture content, such as electrical resistance,
dielectric constant, or interaction with neutrons. The relationship between the measured
property and soil moisture must be calibrated and may differ depending on environmental
factors such as soil type, temperature, or electrical conductivity. The moisture in the soil
affects reflected microwave radiation, which is used for remote sensing. In agriculture and
hydrology. Soil moisture sensors are typically sensors that estimate the volumetric water
content of soil. Another class of sensors, known as soil water potential sensors, measures
another property of moisture in soils called water potential. These sensors include
tensiometers and gypsum blocks.

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 CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Materials

Arduino Uno

Bread Board

SD Card module adapter

SD card

OLED module

Hook Wires

Soil moisture sensor

Power supply

Laptop

The research procedure was carried out with several stages, which include designing a tool
consisting of on the design of mechanical, electronic systems, and software, implementation,
and laboratory tests and field trials.

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3.2 System planning

For this project, the materials that will be needed are Arduino uno, bread board, SD card
module adapter, SD card, hook wires, soil moisture sensor, power supply and laptop. This
AUMS are made to determine the temperature and moisture levels of sea turtles nest. This
electronic instrument consists of several parts, namely the Arduino Uno board as the control
center system. The instrument consists of two sensors and a coordinator. Each instrument is
manufactured in two stages: hardware manufacturing and software development in the form
of firmware. This firmware has a function to record data sand humidity, measure sand
temperature, humidity air, measure air temperature, record time recording, and storing data
into micro SD card. Arduino Uno monitoring systems are made to detect the sand
temperature and moisture level of the sea turtle nest. One of the specifications is to ensure
that the materials used to manufacture AUMS are low-cost while not forgoing quality.

Soil moisture sensor Power bank

Temperature sensor Arduino Uno

SD card module

OLED screen

Figure 3.3.2 : Electronic system design.

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3.3 System testing

System testing includes both laboratory and field tests. This research's laboratory tests
include a sensor reading test, an accuracy test sand temperature sensor, and an accuracy test
sand humidity sensor. Testing of sand humidity and temperature sensor. This is accomplished
by inserting the sensor into the sand and performing an experimental calculation manual. The
temperature sensor accuracy test is performed by comparing the data obtained from the sand
temperature measured with a mercury thermometer. Test for precision of the sand humidity
sensor works by comparing data obtained from humidity sand measured with a humidity
metre to system readings by sensors. (Santoso et al., 2021)

For field test, the Arduino will be buried in a sea turtle nest with 50 cm depth. With this test,
the project will be left inside the nest for a time beings to collect the data for temperature and
moisture. Due to the shortage amount of time, the project will be put inside a nest that will
hatchlings with time estimate times given. The portable power supply such as power bank
will be use as a power supply for the Arduino. The estimate time will determine the
temperature and moisture for sand of sea turtle nest and it will determine how much the
temperature and moisture levels for sea turtles eggs hatchlings and form into female sea
turtles of male sea turtles.

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 REFERENCES

Carbón, P. El. (2009). Frontier Nicaragua Environmental Research Sea Turtle Monitoring
Methods Manual. January 2009.

Guidelines, F., Ejf, F. O. R., & Teams, P. (n.d.). Nesting Turtle Monitoring. 1–20.

Jolis, G., & Shankar Kumar Sharma, D. (2015). Sea Turtle Conservation in Malaysia: Issues,
Challenges and Recommendations WWF-Malaysia Marine Programme View project.
September 2015. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322752509

Joseph, J. (2017). Marine Turtle Landing, Hatching , And Predation In Turtle Islands Park
( TIP ), Sabah: Coastal And Marine Resources Management In The Coral Triangle-
Southeast Asia (Ta 7813-Reg). 50. https://iwlearn.net/documents/25260

Khaing, K. K., Srujan Raju, K., Sinha, G. R., & Swe, W. Y. (2020). Automatic temperature
control system using arduino. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing,
1090(March), 219–226. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1480-7_18

Rusli, U. (2020). Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Encyclopedia of Animal

Cognition and Behavior, January, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6

Santoso, H., Hestirianoto, T., & Jaya, I. (2021). Sistem pemantauan suhu dan kelembapan
pasir sarang penyu menggunakan Arduino Uno Sand temperature and moisture
monitoring system for turtle nests using Arduino. 9(November 2020), 8–14.
https://doi.org/10.14710/jtsiskom.2020.13725

Škultéty, E., Pivarčiová, E., & Karrach, L. (2018). The Comparing of the Selected
Temperature Sensors Compatible with the Arduino Platform. Management Systems in
Production Engineering, 26(3), 168–171. https://doi.org/10.1515/mspe-2018-0027

Talib, Z., Ali, A., & Yaacob, K. K. K. (2003). Managing Sea Turtles in Southeast Asia :
Hatcheries and Tagging Activities. 1(3), 27–33.

Tezak, B. M., Sifuentes-Romero, I., & Wyneken, J. (2018). A new approach for measuring
temperature inside turtle eggs. Journal of Experimental Biology, 221(20).
https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.188698

Paladino, F. V. (2013). Sea Turtles. July 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-

9.04352-9.

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