Sea turtles have been used to symbolise wisdom, felicity, immortality, fertility, water, and Mother Earth. For centuries they have been revered as lords of the oceans and the bearers of the burdens of the physical world. These majestic creatures, however, far outdate the mythologies that were developed about them. Indeed, evolutionists have determined that sea turtles became distinct from all other types of turtles at least 110 million years ago – making them truly prehistoric.

Leatherback sea turtle nesting on Mead’s Bay.

Today, there are seven known species of turtles that roam the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans and each are unique in their own right. In the waters around Anguilla, three types of sea turtles - the green, hawksbill, and leatherbacks - can often be observed while the loggerhead has been rarely seen.

Most sea turtles spend much of their adult lives in the open ocean, looking for food and dodging predators. The nearshore environment, however, is also important for them. All species of sea turtles, including those found in Anguilla’s waters depend on sandy beaches to lay their eggs. The baby sea turtles, upon hatching on land usually in the still of the night, return to the water and open ocean where they take shelter in floating seaweed beds and other protective habitats. Around Anguilla, green sea turtles - both young and mature - can also been seen foraging for food among the shallow seagrass beds while hawksbills use their sharp beak-like mouths to feed on the sponges found along the coral reefs. These distinct coastal and marine environments - the beaches, seagrass beds, coral reefs, and open water - function as an interconnected and dynamic system that supports the sea turtle’s lifecycle.

As important as sea turtles have been in shaping our beliefs about the world and as graceful and beautiful as they are, they are now threatened with extinction. Indeed, green turtles are listed as endangered species while hawksbills and leatherbacks are critically endangered.

Randall Richardson with a green sea turtle.

Sea turtles and their eggs have long been exploited - and over-exploited - by humans. They have been a source of food, are considered an extravagant delicacy and aphrodisiac, and provide the material for striking jewellery and decoration.

In addition to having to avoid sharks and other natural predators, sea turtles are often caught as bycatch through imprecise fishing methods. Longline fishing is one of the worst culprits and has led to many accidental turtle deaths. Marine debris, especially plastic bags, bottle caps, six-pack can holders, and abandoned fishing nets have also killed many turtles by entanglement and suffocation. Blades on boat engines are just as deadly.

Sea turtles are also vulnerable to land-based threats. For example, beach development and activity have had a negative impact on their numbers. Many sea turtles return to the same beach to nest year after year and beachfront development has interfered with this process when buildings are built directly on the beach (without setbacks), when the vegetation that helps keep sand in place and provides nesting habitat is removed, and when beach furniture and umbrellas are left on the dry sand creating additional obstructions to turtles that are already struggling to move their cumbersome bodies on land. Building lights that are left on at night can disorient nesting sea turtles and hatchlings since they confuse the artificial light with the moon on the horizon and move landwards instead of to the ocean. Sand mining which is the physical and intentional removal of sand from beaches and sand dunes has the same impact on sea turtles as coastal development - critical nesting habitat is destroyed. All terrain vehicles, cars, and trucks that are driven on beaches are also destructive as they compact the sand in some areas, potentially crushing eggs and making it even more difficult for sea turtles to dig nests.
All of these stressors have led to a decline in sea turtle populations worldwide.

In Anguilla, recognising that something must be done to protect these vulnerable animals, in 1995, the Government of Anguilla implemented a five-year moratorium on the harvesting of sea turtles and their eggs. It was extended for another five years in 2000, and an additional 15 in 2005. The moratorium is a good first step. We now need to determine what is happening to their populations, whether the moratorium is working, and whether it really is enough.

Over the years, the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources (DFMR) has been monitoring sea turtle nesting activity along Anguilla’s beaches and have been documenting green and hawksbill foraging activity within the island’s nearshore environment. This summer, the Anguilla Sea Turtle Conservation Group (ASCG), a volunteer working group of the Anguilla National Trust, has “adopted” several beaches to assist the DFMR with their monitoring programme. Since the beginning of July, ASCG volunteers have recorded over ten sea turtle landings with eggs potentially being laid in four different nests. The ASCG will continue monitoring the island’s beaches year-round, adopting additional beaches as volunteer numbers grow.

Earlier this year, the ANT and ASCG received funding from Fauna & Flora International’s Flagship Species Fund for a one-year project. Project funds are being used to train ASCG volunteers, to initiate a public awareness campaign, and to work on influencing national sea turtle and coastal conservation policies. The ASCG, while recognising the importance of the moratorium, will place additional emphasis on habitat and ecosystem conservation measures: sea turtles will not survive unless the habitats on which they depend - both in and out of the water - are also protected.

For more information about the ASCG, its activities, or how to become an ASCG volunteer, please contact Ms Janeczka Richardson, ASCG Coordinator, at axascg@hotmail.comor 497 5297 / 729 9443.

- Press Release

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