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Tuesday 28 February 2023 locAl
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Sea turtle conservation by Turtugaruba Foundation

drove over them. Thanks to their
protection methods and a lot of
time and effort, the volunteers of
Turtugaruba have managed to
get this under control. But for a sus-
tainable solution there must be less
light visible on the beaches and
a strict regulation of it. Sea turtles
simply need dark nesting beaches
for their survival. It is clear that even
more coastal development would
not make the situation better for
the sea turtles. Again, more hotel
rooms? And even busier beach-
es? These are choices Aruba has
to make. Do we want to leave a
place for the sea turtles? Not only
ORANJESTAD ― Turtugaruba was like an organization such as DLVV. tember) Aruba, but the entire world needs
founded on September 3rd, 2003 This group of volunteers used the - Loggerhead Sea Turtle - Dikkop- sea turtles! Sea turtles play a vital
by a group of enthusiastic volun- name Widecast Aruba and today schildpad - Cawama (May – Sep- role in keeping our oceans healthy.
teers. Ten years earlier, in 1993, a there are still a few of them ac- tember)
Sea Turtle Recovery Action Plan tive. They first started protecting - Hawksbill Sea Turtle - Karetschild- The Green Turtle, for example,
(STRAP) was introduced in Aruba the Leatherback Sea Turtle nests pad - Caret (June – December) keeps the sea grasses on the bot-
and the rest of the Caribbean as on Palm Beach and Eagle Beach. - Green Turtle - Soepschildpad - tom of the sea short and therefore
an initiative of the United Nations This group also investigated which Turtuga Blanco (July-November) a healthy place for many fish to de-
Environment Program (UNEP). Tom other species of sea turtles use posit their eggs. The Leatherback,
Barmes, who was working at DLVV Aruba as their nesting habitat and There also came a better under- the largest turtle of the world, eats
(Deptartment of Agriculture, Hus- which beaches are used by them. standing and overview of the big- mainly jellyfish and helps main-
bandry and Fishery) was one of For a period of 25 years a study has gest threats to the sea turtles ex- tain the balance between jellyfish
the writers of the STRAP for Aruba, been conducted in which every istence in Aruba and how these and plankton. Despite the threats
together with Karen Eckert, direc- early morning the beach was be- problems should be tackled. De- that exist on Aruba, the turtles still
tor of WIDECAST (Wider Caribbean ing monitored in which now there is spite hard work, all those years, keep coming. That’s why today
Sea Turtle Conservation Network). a good overview of sea turtle nest- most problems have not really Turtugaruba is especially proud of
This is how sea turtle conservation ing activities. gone away, but luckily and thanks the volunteers and the many peo-
started on the island following a to the enormous efforts from the ple and organizations of our com-
plan that is still complied with to- There are 4 different sea turtle spe- volunteers, the sea turtles are still munity that carry a warm place
day. cies that visit Aruba to lay their here. On Aruba the sea turtles in their hearts for the sea turtles.
eggs, each with their own specific are threatened with extinction by All four species are active now,
Tom formed a group of volun- season: pollution, driving on dunes and which means all hands on deck
teers around him, because na- - Leatherback Sea Turtle - Leder- beaches with quads and 4x4’s and in the field for us, the volunteers.
ture does not know office hours, schildpad - Driekiel (March – Sep- the loss of nesting beaches due to We strive to keep the sea turtles,
coastal development on behalf of our oldest ‘repeat guests’, always
tourism. Because coastal devel- coming back to Aruba and get the
opment comes with artificial light chance to reproduce here.
and artificial light is a mayor issue
for sea turtles, mother turtle usu- What you can do to protect the
ally comes on shore at night look- sea turtles
ing for a dark beach to make her • Lights out for sea turtles.
nest. However… a dark beach is • Do not drive on beaches.
hard to find here nowadays. Light • Do not litter. Do not leave
causes stress and can result in her any plastic cups, straws or bags on
returning to the sea without laying the beach.
her eggs. Artificial light causes dis- • Remove obstacles from the
orientation for the baby sea turtles beach.
(hatchlings). • Do not disturb a nesting sea
turtle. Do not attempt to touch the
They crawl towards artificial light turtle but stay at a respectful dis-
sources (like streetlights, hotel tance (at least 10 meters).
lights, etc.) and then they don’t • Do call Turtugaruba (24
find the sea. In the 90’s it was still hour Turtle Hotline: (297) 5929393).
a common occurrence to find a For more information visit the face-
complete nest of about 70 hatch- book page Turtugaruba Founda-
lings on the streets, dead, as cars tion. q