Page 12 - ATA

A14 LOCAL
Monday 5 august 2019

Sea turtle conservation by Turtugaruba Foundation

Continued from Page 13

There are 4 different sea
turtle species that visit Aru-
ba to lay their eggs, each
with their own specific sea-
son:
- Leatherback Sea Turtle -
Lederschildpad - Driekiel
(March – September)
- Loggerhead Sea Turtle -
Dikkopschildpad - Cawa-
ma (May – September)
- Hawksbill Sea Turtle -
Karetschildpad - Caret
(June – December) led. Despite hard work, all 4x4’s and the loss of nesting a dark beach is hard to a healthy place for many
- Green Turtle - Soepschild- those years, most problems beaches due to coastal find here nowadays. Light fish to deposit their eggs.
pad - Turtuga Blanco (July- have not really gone away, development on behalf of causes stress and can result The Leatherback, the larg-
November) but luckily and thanks to the tourism. Because coastal in her returning to the sea est turtle of the world, eats
enormous efforts from the development comes with without laying her eggs. mainly jellyfish and helps
There also came a better volunteers, the sea turtles artificial light and artificial Artificial light causes disori- maintain the balance be-
understanding and over- are still here. On Aruba the light is a mayor issue for sea entation for the baby sea tween jellyfish and plank-
view of the biggest threats sea turtles are threatened turtles, mother turtle usually turtles (hatchlings). ton. Despite the threats
to the sea turtles existence with extinction by pollu- comes on shore at night that exist on Aruba, the
in Aruba and how these tion, driving on dunes and looking for a dark beach to They crawl towards ar- turtles still keep coming.
problems should be tack- beaches with quads and make her nest. However… tificial light sources (like That’s why today Turtuga-
streetlights, hotel lights, ruba is especially proud
etc.) and then they don’t of the volunteers and the
find the sea. In the 90’s it many people and organi-
was still a common occur- zations of our community
rence to find a complete that carry a warm place
nest of about 70 hatch- in their hearts for the sea
lings on the streets, dead, turtles. All four species are
as cars drove over them. active now, which means
Thanks to their protection all hands on deck in the
methods and a lot of time field for us, the volunteers.
and effort, the volunteers We strive to keep the sea
of Turtugaruba have man- turtles, our oldest ‘repeat
aged to get this under con- guests’, always coming
trol. But for a sustainable back to Aruba and get the
solution there must be less chance to reproduce here.
light visible on the beaches What you can do to pro-
and a strict regulation of tect the sea turtles
it. Sea turtles simply need • Lights out for sea
dark nesting beaches for turtles.
their survival. It is clear that • Do not drive on
even more coastal devel- beaches.
opment would not make • Do not litter. Do not
the situation better for the leave any plastic cups,
sea turtles. Again, more ho- straws or bags on the
tel rooms? And even busier beach.
beaches? These are choic- • Remove obstacles
es Aruba has to make. Do from the beach.
we want to leave a place • Do not disturb a
for the sea turtles? Not only nesting sea turtle. Do not
Aruba, but the entire world attempt to touch the turtle
needs sea turtles! Sea tur- but stay at a respectful dis-
tles play a vital role in keep- tance (at least 10 meters).
ing our oceans healthy. • Do call Turtugaruba
(24 hour Turtle Hotline: (297)
The Green Turtle, for ex- 5929393).
ample, keeps the sea For more information visit
grasses on the bottom of the facebook page Tur-
the sea short and therefore tugaruba Foundation. q