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Thursday 19 January 2023 locAl
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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, because na-
ture does not know office hours,
like an organization such as DLVV.
This group of volunteers used the
name Widecast Aruba and today
there are still a few of them ac-
tive. They first started protecting
the Leatherback Sea Turtle nests tember) tourism. Because coastal devel- keeps the sea grasses on the bot-
on Palm Beach and Eagle Beach. - Hawksbill Sea Turtle - Karetschild- opment comes with artificial light tom of the sea short and therefore
This group also investigated which pad - Caret (June – December) and artificial light is a mayor issue a healthy place for many fish to
other species of sea turtles use - Green Turtle - Soepschildpad - for sea turtles, mother turtle usu- deposit their eggs.
Aruba as their nesting habitat and Turtuga Blanco (July-November) ally comes on shore at night look-
which beaches are used by them. ing for a dark beach to make her The Leatherback, the largest turtle
For a period of 25 years a study has There also came a better under- nest. However… a dark beach is of the world, eats mainly jellyfish
been conducted in which every standing and overview of the big- hard to find here nowadays. Light and helps maintain the balance
early morning the beach was be- gest threats to the sea turtles ex- causes stress and can result in her between jellyfish and plankton.
ing monitored in which now there is istence in Aruba and how these returning to the sea without laying Despite the threats that exist on
a good overview of sea turtle nest- problems should be tackled. De- her eggs. Artificial light causes dis- Aruba, the turtles still keep coming.
ing activities. spite hard work, all those years, orientation for the baby sea turtles That’s why today Turtugaruba is
most problems have not really (hatchlings). especially proud of the volunteers
There are 4 different sea turtle spe- gone away, but luckily and thanks and the many people and organi-
cies that visit Aruba to lay their to the enormous efforts from the They crawl towards artificial light zations of our community that car-
eggs, each with their own specific volunteers, the sea turtles are still sources (like streetlights, hotel ry a warm place in their hearts for
season: here. On Aruba the sea turtles lights, etc.) and then they don’t the sea turtles. All four species are
- Leatherback Sea Turtle - Leder- are threatened with extinction by find the sea. In the 90’s it was still active now, which means all hands
schildpad - Driekiel (March – Sep- pollution, driving on dunes and a common occurrence to find a on deck in the field for us, the vol-
tember) beaches with quads and 4x4’s and complete nest of about 70 hatch- unteers. We strive to keep the sea
- Loggerhead Sea Turtle - Dikkop- the loss of nesting beaches due to lings on the streets, dead, as cars turtles, our oldest ‘repeat guests’,
schildpad - Cawama (May – Sep- coastal development on behalf of drove over them. Thanks to their always coming back to Aruba and
protection methods and a lot of get the chance to reproduce here.
time and effort, the volunteers of
Turtugaruba have managed to
get this under control. But for a sus- What you can do to protect the sea
tainable solution there must be less turtles
light visible on the beaches and • Lights out for sea turtles.
a strict regulation of it. Sea turtles • Do not drive on beaches.
simply need dark nesting beaches • Do not litter. Do not leave
for their survival. It is clear that even any plastic cups, straws or bags on
more coastal development would the beach.
not make the situation better for • Remove obstacles from the
the sea turtles. Again, more hotel beach.
rooms? And even busier beach- • Do not disturb a nesting sea
es? These are choices Aruba has turtle. Do not attempt to touch the
to make. Do we want to leave a turtle but stay at a respectful dis-
place for the sea turtles? Not only tance (at least 10 meters).
Aruba, but the entire world needs • Do call Turtugaruba (24
sea turtles! Sea turtles play a vital hour Turtle Hotline: (297) 5929393).
role in keeping our oceans healthy. For more information visit the face-
book page Turtugaruba Founda-
The Green Turtle, for example, tion. q