It’s All About the Turtles!

Here is a more recent newsletter from TANN (Tambor Area Nature Network) regarding the ongoing efforts to save the turtles! Thanks to tannnews@gmail.com.

It’s All About the Turtles!

The turtles are coming in! We have already recorded seven nests for certain, with a possible eighth! Four turtles came ashore on the night of September 23-24 alone – that was exciting!

One and possibly two of those resulted in ‘false crawls’, meaning that the turtles came in but went back to sea without laying any eggs. However, two nights later, a turtle - possibly the same individual - came right back to one of the same spots, and she did lay eggs that time, and we know exactly where they are!

Sadly, three nests have been damaged or destroyed. It’s been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, to say the least!

A great deal of our monitoring is taking place in the early morning. Although not ideal, there are several reasons for this – tidal schedules, rainy weather, visibility at night, availability of volunteers and safety concerns. Yet, the dark hours are ‘turtle time’ and we have not been ‘out there’ at night as much as we would have liked. Hopefully, that will change in October as more volunteers are added.

Happily, what that means is that we’re simply not finding them all, so it is highly probable that more than eight turtles have come back to our beach in the ten days we have been monitoring. We also know from what local people have told us and from evidence we have found that several turtles had already come in before monitoring began. Best of all, the prime season is yet to come.

What has become abundantly clear (if we did not know it already) is that our remaining sea turtles face huge odd against them. Help is long overdue and urgently needed. And that’s what we (TBT and TANN) intend to do. Tambor Bay Turtles’ (TBT) pilot project, being carried out this fall largely by TANN volunteers, will give us vital information on the local turtle population, it will reveal the true extent of the threats that ‘our turtles’ face, and it will allow us to prepare a strategy that will help to ensure their survival.

To end on a high note (so that you can get off the emotional rollercoaster) here are some encouraging facts:

• TBT is hiring a professional biologist, as planned, with funds raised by TANN. • a management plan will be submitted for government approval early next year, as planned. • TANN is purchasing a projector and screen to be used for education purposes. • Some program materials have already been secured, thanks to Rainforest Publications. • A young and enthusiastic Tica from Tambor has joined us – hopefully the first of many. • Our volunteers are going to Montezuma to learn from what they are already doing there. • ASVO is coming here to assess our situation and possibly offer their assistance.

• Some sort of a night of celebration of nature/fundraiser, similar to what we did last year, will very likely be held again this year, in January or February.