Baby Hawksbill turtles in the shade.
ST. EUSTATIUS--St. Eustatius National Parks Foundation STENAPA has been quite busy with Statia’s sea turtles. A few weeks after the first hawksbill nesting event on Oranjebaai, the nature organisation received a call that the nest was accidentally dug up.
Luckily no eggs were destroyed and the nest was relocated to Zeelandia Bay by Sea Turtle Programme Coordinator Jessica Berkel. Although the nest should be safer on that beach, travelling with sensitive eggs takes a lot of time and care, and Berkel hopes the development of the eggs was not severely affected.
This disturbance of the nest would likely not have occurred if the beach was properly designated as a sea turtle beach, where digging and other harmful activities are prohibited, Berkel said.
STENAPA’s Education and Outreach Officer Achsah Mitchell said that in February hawksbill hatchlings crawled from Oranjebaai beach towards a streetlight instead of to the ocean.
Turtles use the glare of the moon or sun on the water to determine the direction of the water. A red streetlight at this location would allow turtles as well as people to travel safely.
On the morning of Friday, June 14, around 7:00, an unknown nest was spotted by Botanical Garden Ranger Ervin Arnaud, and 65 live hawksbill turtles were able to successfully make it to the water.
The sand was already too hot for them to traverse by 8:00am, therefore, the baby turtles were released in a shaded portion of the small beach that is used by many persons.
STENAPA also made it known that unknown persons have been removing sand for construction purposes from this area. The removal of sand threatens the healthy development and hatching of Statia’s sea turtle nests as it changes the shape and behaviour of beaches, Mitchell explained.
On the other side of St. Eustatius, large boulders are now restricting the access of trucks to Zeelandia, the main turtle-nesting beach where persons have been removing sand by the truckload, the nature organisation stated.
STENAPA is asking the public to be aware of the importance of the beaches to the island’s marine life and to do their part to make sure everyone can benefit.
