The major wildlife rehabilitation going on St Kitts is through the Sea Turtle Monitoring Network. Cooperating with networks in Georgia and other locations in the Atlantic, the St Kitts Monitoring Network is working to save critically endangered Leatherback and Hawksbill turtles. For you guys who watched the White Coat Ceremony, you got a little background information on this project, as the director (Dr Kimberly Stewart) was our keynote speaker. For more information you can check out their website: http://www.stkittsturtles.org/www.stkittsturtles.org/Welcome.html
Both types of turtles are facing extinction due to human fishing habits as well as destruction of their nests. Hawksbill turtles, however, are hunted specifically for their scutes, or layers of their shell, that are used for making jewelry. Killing sea turtles used to be a huge problem in St Kitts, but Kimberly has made it her mission to educate the local population. Now not only has sea turtle trapping reduced, but many of the local fishermen cooperate with the organization with tagging adults and preserving nesting sites.
When i heard breeding season was beginning again, I contacted Kimberly and got myself a half-invitation to come help out with tagging and see if I have the skills it takes to join the team. I borrowed my neighbor's snorkeling gear and set out determined to convince her.
We met on campus at 10am and set off across the island to Sandy Point, an old fisherman’s beach where only the locals really know about. When we got there we met one of Kimberly’s old turtle trapper turned rehabilitators who claimed he had seen some turtles hanging about lately. He arrived barefoot, shook our hands warmly, then lead us down to the beach.
When we got down there I could hardly believe my eyes. The beach literally looked like a landfill. I have never seen so many plastic bottles strewn about in my entire life. There was glass, pots, broken chairs, shoes, clothes, mattresses, you name it. The local just walked along the beach like it was any old day… the rest of us exchanged looks and decided to keep our sandals on. We walked down about 5 minutes, then he pointed out over the water and told us to swim to the left. So we did. There were 8 of us in the team, and we all put on our snorkels and flippers, spread out in a line, and began our search.
I’ve been snorkeling a couple times since I came to the island. A couple weeks ago I adventured out to a new beach which I heard had the best snorkeling on the island. Sandy point, however, was by far the best I’ve ever seen. There were TONS of corals and brightly colored fish. I even saw a puffer fish! It was a shame though, because in the water was just as bad as the beach, it was totally littered with trash.
We swam along for about 15 minutes before someone spotted a turtle. He kept his eye on it, raising his hand above the water to signal for the rest of us to come over and surround it. It took 3 attempts, but finally we were able to catch it. (two people dive down under water on either side of it and literally just grab its shell with their bare hands). We all swam back to shore, careful to keep the turtle’s head out of water so it could breathe.
When we got back to shore, Kimberly was there waiting with all her tools. We worked quickly because we didn’t want the turtle to get overheated. One person even filled up a waterbottle with ocean water and repeatedly dumped it over his head to keep him cool. We measured his size and noted his general health, including a bite mark on his back right flipper and multiple barnacles that had taken up residence on his shell.
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| Kimberly noting marks on the plastron (belly) |
We worked quickly, but it didn't take long for the locals to see what we were doing and come down to investigate. Kimberly invited them all over to watch, and even had one of the girls help her release it at the end.
It was a pretty amazing experience. I’ve worked with a lot of turtles both at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and at the pet hospital in mpls, but I’ve never been so close to such a large turtle with such vibrant colors.
After the dive Kimberly extended an invitation to join the team.
