Page 10 - HOH

a8 local
Thursday 30 November 2023

Sea turtle conservation by Turtugaruba Foundation

ORANJESTAD ― Turtugaruba was beaches are used by them. For
founded on September 3rd, 2003, a period of 25 years, a study has
by a group of enthusiastic volun- been conducted in which investi-
teers. Ten years earlier in 1993, a gators monitored the beaches ev-
Sea Turtle Recovery Action Plan ery morning to study turtle move-
(STRAP) was introduced in Aruba ment. Now, there is a good over-
and the rest of the Caribbean as view of sea turtle nesting activities.
an initiative of the United Nations
Environment Program (UNEP). Tom There are 4 different species of sea
Barmes, who was working at DLVV turtle that visit Aruba to lay their
(Deptartment of Agriculture, Hus- eggs, each with their own specific
bandry and Fishery) was one of season:
the writers of the STRAP for Aruba, • Leatherback Sea Turtle - Led-
together with Karen Eckert, direc- erschildpad - Driekiel (March –
tor of WIDECAST (Wider Caribbean September)
Sea Turtle Conservation Network). • Loggerhead Sea Turtle - Dik-
This is how sea turtle conservation kopschildpad - Cawama (May
started on the island following a – September) the volunteers, the sea turtles are nesting beaches for their survival.
plan that is still complied with to- • Hawksbill Sea Turtle - Karetsch- still here. On Aruba, the sea turtles It is clear that even more coastal
day. ildpad - Caret (June – Decem- are threatened with extinction by development would not make the
ber) pollution, people driving ATVs on situation better for the sea turtles.
Tom formed a group of volun- • Green Turtle - Soepschildpad dunes and beaches and the loss Do we need more hotel rooms?
teers around him like an organiza- - Turtuga Blanco (July-Novem- of nesting beaches due to coastal And even busier beaches? These
tion such as DLVV, because na- ber) development for tourism. Because are the choices that Aruba has
ture does not know office hours. coastal development comes with to make. Do we want to leave a
This group of volunteers used the Investigators also reached a bet- artificial lighting, these can cause place for the sea turtles? Not only
name Widecast Aruba and today ter understanding and overview major issues for sea turtles. Female do we need sea turtles, but so
there are still a few of them active. of the biggest threats to the sea turtles usually come ashore at night does the rest of the world! Sea tur-
They first started protecting the turtles’ existence in Aruba and looking for a dark beach to make tles play a vital role in keeping our
Leatherback Sea Turtle nests on how these problems should be her nest. However, a dark beach is oceans healthy. The Green Turtle,
Palm Beach and Eagle Beach. This tackled. Despite the hard work all hard to find here nowadays. Light for example, keeps the sea grass-
group also investigated which oth- those years, most problems have causes stress and can result in her es on the bottom of the sea short
er species of sea turtles use Aruba not really gone away. Luckily—and returning to the sea without lay- and therefore a healthy place for
as their nesting habitat and which thanks to the enormous efforts from ing her eggs. Furthermore, artificial many fish to deposit their eggs. The
lighting causes disorientation for Leatherback, the largest turtle of
the baby sea turtles (hatchlings). the world, eats mainly jellyfish and
helps maintain the balance be-
They crawl towards artificial light tween jellyfish and plankton.
sources (like streetlights, hotel lights,
etc.) and end up walking in the op- Despite the threats that exist on
posite direction towards the hotels Aruba, the turtles still keep coming.
and away from the sea. In the 90’s, That’s why today Turtugaruba is
it was a common occurrence to especially proud of the volunteers
find complete nests of about 70 and the many people and organi-
hatchlings dead on the street due zations of our community that car-
to being run over by passing cars. ry a warm place in their hearts for
Thanks to their protection methods the sea turtles. All four species are
and a lot of time and effort, the active now, which means all hands
volunteers of Turtugaruba have on deck in the field for us, the vol-
managed to get this under control. unteers. We strive to keep the sea
However, for long-term prevention, turtles, our oldest ‘repeat guests’,
there must be less light visible on always coming back to Aruba
the beaches and a strict regulation and get the chance to reproduce
of it. Sea turtles simply need dark here.q