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                                                                                                           local Tuesday 21 May 2024

            Sea turtle conservation by Turtugaruba Foundation



            ORANJESTAD  ―  Turtugaruba  was
            founded  on  September  3rd,  2003,
            by  a  group  of  enthusiastic  volun-
            teers.  Ten  years  earlier  in  1993,  a
            Sea  Turtle  Recovery  Action  Plan
            (STRAP)  was  introduced  in  Aruba
            and  the  rest  of  the  Caribbean  as
            an  initiative  of  the  United  Nations
            Environment Program (UNEP). Tom
            Barmes, who was working at DLVV
            (Deptartment  of  Agriculture,  Hus-
            bandry  and  Fishery)  was  one  of
            the writers of the STRAP for Aruba,
            together  with  Karen  Eckert,  direc-
            tor of WIDECAST (Wider Caribbean
            Sea  Turtle  Conservation  Network).
            This is how sea turtle conservation
            started  on  the  island  following  a
            plan  that  is  still  complied  with  to-
            day.


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