Three months ago Wildlife Conservation Society fitted a juvenile green turtle with a satellite transmitter.  Turtle Sam migrated along the coastline of the eastern Caribbean passing through Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Columbia.  Turtle Sam is now traveling through the coastal waters of Nicaragua where they still harvest sea turtles.  Let's hope she/he make it safely back to her foraging area at Glover's Reef!

Each summer Dr. Todd Rimkus leads a 4 credit  university course in Marine & Tropical Ecology which culminates in a two week trip to Belize where the class visits the coastal community of Gales Point and Cayo to learn about diverse culture and natural history. The groups are introduced to Belize's most important hawksbill sea turtle nesting beach at Gales Point by local turtle expert, Kevin Andrewin, from the Gales Point Wildlife Sanctuary Management Committee. 

Realizing a need to learn more about the migration paths of the turtles nesting at the Gales Point, Dr Rimkus secured funding for the purchase and deployment of satellite tags and shares this tremendous opportunity with other organizations that study sea turtles in Belize. The value of each tag is approximately US $5000 which includes equipment purchase and the subsequent data downloaded via satellite.   To date a total of ten satellite tags have been applied to nine hawksbill sea turtles and one olive ridley turtle.

The satellite tagging program championed by Dr Rimkus has made important discoveries on the migration paths of sea turtles in Belize.   Of the eight hawksbill turtles tagged at Gales Point one remained close to home and foraged between Gales Point and Turneffe, one migrated to the South Water Caye Marine Reserve, two forage in the waters around the Port Honduras Marine Reserve, and one migrated outside of Belize waters to the area south of the Bay Islands in Honduras. Two tags attached at Gales Point did not provide any migration data; one malfunctioned and the other either came off the turtle shortly after it was released or the turtle got trapped under a fallen tree on the beach.  The Belize Fisheries Department tagged a hawksbill turtle that nested on Hunting Caye in May 2014, but the tag has not transmitted any data at all.  The olive ridley migrated to the Gulf of Mexico in two weeks and then the tag stopped transmitting.  All sea turtles nesting at Gales Point forage in the Victoria Channel and at nearby Robinson Point during the inter-nesting period, or the time in between they are laying eggs.  Since this area is critical to the success of the endangered nesting hawksbill turtles, protecting this area should be a priority.

Three additional tags will be applied this year by the Ambergris Caye Turtle Program, TIDE and ECOMAR.  We'll keep you posted on the details of the turtles tagged so you can follow their migration paths!

All educators are encouraged to incorporate information on sea turtles in their classrooms or other education programs.  Following the daily movements of migrating sea turtles increases an appreciation for the great ocean migrators.  Please contact ECOMAR for more information and materials.

Imagine the surprise of the patrons at the Maya Breeze Inn when they were approached by 100s of hatchlings around 7:30 pm on September 25!  

Bartender Jake reported the event to ECOMAR and we learned that they did not know a turtle nested along their beach so this event came as a very unexpected and pleasant surprise! Jake reported that the hatchlings emerged from a vegetated area along the beach.  

The hatchlings are naturally attracted to light so when they saw the lights on around the bar they mistook it for the moon rising over the ocean.

This is great news for Maya Beach who can expect that the mature hawksbill will return again in 2-3 years to nest and that her young will return again in 20-30 years.  This turtle likely laid other nests this summer as well.The nearest Turtle Network member, SEA, was notified and they will dispatch their biologists to the area to locate the nest and count the egg shells to determine success rate and also collect a sample for DNA studies. 

Ken from Caribbean Delites Beach House was able to capture a couple images in the scurry to gather the hatchlings and assist them on their way to the sea!

Let's all help ensure that our sandy beaches are turtle friendly and Adopt A Beach today!

The guidance you seek is on the selection and use of so called "turtle friendly lighting." These are lights that serve our interests with minimal effects on sea turtles. 

Any light source can be turtle friendly to the extent that it is hidden from the nesting beach. A lot of commonly available light sources have designs that make this task easier. The list includes fixtures with baffles and shielding that direct light efficiently downward, which is normally where we want light (so we can see where we step). Fixtures that shine upward and
outward are in the unfriendly category, which includes sources usually meant to be more decorative than functional.

To ensure that good lights don't go bad, take a stroll on the beach at night. Walk up and down the beach near you house and look for lights. An upright posture is fine--no need to crawl like a turtle. If you can see light from any artificial sources, including indirect light from glowing buildings or trees, then there may be a problem for nearby nesting turtles and their hatchlings trying to find the sea.

For developed areas with complex lighting needs, it's difficult to hide all the light. Best practices here are to hide lighting as completely as possible and use long-wavelength (red, orange-yellow) sources where some light leaks out. Many of the best long-wavelength sources are LED lamps. As a general rule, humans see this reddish light better than sea turtles do. But the light is not invisible to sea turtles, so like fat-free cookies,
moderation is suggested.

Because light near the horizon is most attractive to sea-finding turtle hatchlings, and because blocking a light is often as good as turning it off, it's very helpful to keep a naturally vegetated dune between any lighted area and the nesting beach. A nice dune silhouette will cover a multitude of lighting sins, including light from house windows. Really? My house windows too? Well, considering that the light projected from windows at night helps
only those outside to see in, then drawing the drapes seems reasonable if only for modesty's sake. Seeking ways to live with sea turtles may mean occasionally examining ourselves for modesty.  

Blair Witherington

Blair Witherington is a research scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (USA) where he has worked since 1992 on sea turtle biology and conservation. Blair received his BS and MS in Biology from the University of Central Florida in 1984 and 1986, and was graduated with a PhD from the Department of Zoology, University of Florida, in 1992. Both of his graduate theses were on subjects of sea turtle biology. In more than 24 years of work with sea turtles biology and conservation, Blair has served on numerous graduate student committees, panels, and working groups. He has an appointment as adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Zoology, University of Florida, has served as president of the 20th International Sea Turtle Symposium, and is a member of the Marine Turtle Specialist Group of the IUCN as Vice Chair of the Northwest Atlantic region. He has authored or contributed to more than 40 scientific articles, monographs, and book chapters, and he has written three books on sea turtles and other natural history subjects. Blair has participated in 24 annual sea turtle symposia.

COURTESY ISTS - International Sea Turtle Society
http://www.seaturtlesociety.org/news/ists_2009_nominations.shtml

Thankfully products made out of hawksbill turtle shell are not commonly found in Belize, but they are available.  When you 
you are shopping around the country in gift shops and at street side market vendor tables use this pictorial guide to avoid purchasing any items made from hawksbill shell, and if you see hawksbill, or any sea turtle product for sale, submit a report here and report it to the Fisheries Department immediately. 

Carvings made out of cow horn are very common in Belize, however it is ILLEGAL to sell any products made out of tortoiseshell.    Please note the streaky patterns in the cow horn, compared the to more blotchy pattern in the fish prey in the birds mouth, with is made from the endangered hawksbill sea turtle.

Last year, 2012, marked the 10th anniversary sea turtles have been protected in Belize.  A small resort owner in Placencia was not aware that sea turtles were protected and the legislation had to be downloaded and shared in order to provide proof that all sea turtles are now protected in Belize and discontinued the sale of these products in their gift shop.

But jewelry made from hawksbill turtle shell are for sale at street vendors in Placencia.  This set of bracelet and earrings was reported by a concerned turtle conservationist in Nov 2012.  While many items made from hawksbill turtle shell were reported to be for sale, this set was purchased for US $10 to prove that it is being sold illegally.  These illegal products will be tested for DNA so the natal beach of this sea turtle can be identified.

Please report all harvest and sales of sea turtles to the Belize Fisheries Department at 203-2623.