When baby turtles dig their way out of nests deep under the sand, they face long, perilous odds of survival. Their first moments on the beach are among the most dangerous. Lifting their little heads up, they’ll search for the horizon of natural light above the shoreline and scramble to the surf, where they’ll be engulfed by the ocean waves and begin the rest of their odyssey.
Any man-made light – from beachfront properties, street lights, cars, flashlights – or fire can disorient the young, leaving them easy prey for potential predators such as birds and crabs. Anything that hinders their emergence and rapid progress in the sea – from plastic to sandcastles to Sargassum seaweed – makes those long odds of survival even longer.
Less than one in 1,000 will reach mating age. Those females that do – and can manage to avoid entanglement in gill nets or fishing gear – will travel thousands of miles back to the shores on which they were born to begin the life cycle once more.
It’s a sight to behold when these mothers nest—especially the massive, majestic leatherbacks, which can reach up to 10 feet in length and weigh up to 2,000 pounds. Watching them rise to the sand, carve their nests, work to camouflage them, and then slowly wade back into the sea can take your breath away…and leave a significant lump in your throat.
Something about the vulnerability and resilience of these nesting mothers and tiny babies touches people deeply. Something about it feels sacred.
That’s why at this time of year – when the little ones start to appear in their numbers – giving these babies and their mothers the best chance of survival is one of the main jobs of volunteers in community-based organizations ( CBOs) throughout Trinidad & Tobago. They devote months of their lives each season to serving as their advocates and protectors.
Leatherbacks, hawksbills and greens also nest at other popular beaches such as Las Cuevas, Maracas, Mayaro, Manzanilla, Lambeau, Man O’ War Bay and Pigeon Point.
Sea turtles have existed for 100 million years, since the time of the dinosaurs. Five of the seven species that exist today visit the shores of Trinidad & Tobago – shrimp, olive shrimp, skates, greens and leatherbacks, with the last three nesting on the islands’ beaches.
For leatherbacks – listed as endangered – the nesting season officially runs from March to August, although wandering leatherbacks may nest as late as (or earlier) in December and January. However, for the critically endangered wagtails and greens, nesting activity usually begins around May and can last until November.
With fledglings emerging approximately six to eight weeks later, the islands are home to nesting activity for most of the year and offshore foraging activity throughout the year. It is an important task, as the islands have become a focal point of leather conservation globally. They have become the most important nesting site in the Western Hemisphere and the last great hope for the survival of leatherback populations in the Northwest Atlantic.
“All eyes are on Trinidad,” says Suzan Lakhan-Baptiste, a founding member and now Managing Director of Matura-based Nature Seekers – one of the award-winning community-based organizations that have made Trinidad & Tobago history success for leather and a model for conservation initiatives across the region. “This is a resource that is not just a Trinidadian concern, but a shared international concern.”
Nesting populations in French Guiana and neighboring Suriname, as well as throughout the Pacific, have almost completely collapsed in recent years, threatening the survival of leatherbacks worldwide. The tireless work of volunteers in Trinidad & Tobago has managed to defy these global trends, making the islands – particularly the birds northeast of Trinidad – the world’s second largest leatherback nesting site, after Gabon in West Africa.
Grande Rivière—a kilometer-long beach in a small fishing village on Trinidad’s far northeast coast—is home to the world’s densest leatherback nesting site. Over 500 were registered on this beach in one night a few years ago. There are similar numbers on the much longer stretch of 8.8 km at Matura, where 300 to 400 leatherbacks may nest on any given night.
It is estimated that more than 6,000 leatherbacks (perhaps as many as 10,000) nest across the island during the season, particularly at Grand Rivière, Matura, Fishing Pond (in Trinidad) and Stonehaven and Courland (in Tobago). But leatherbacks, hawksbills and greens also nest at other popular beaches such as Las Cuevas, Maracas, Mayaro, Manzanilla, Lambeau, Man O’ War Bay and Pigeon Point. There have also been nesting events recorded on the south coast of Trinidad and offshore islands.
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Despite these successes, the threats to turtles—and to the conservation work of CBOs—are significant. In addition to plastic, Sargassum and fishing nets, chief among them being poaching, climate disruption (including beach erosion) and indiscriminate coastal development and beach management. This is why every turtle that can successfully nest and every loggerhead that can enter the sea affects the survival of the species. Likewise any turtles lost to bycatch or poaching.
Beyond their intrinsic value as key indicator species that reflect and help ensure the health of the world’s oceans and marine ecosystems, these turtles also bring significant economic benefits to the communities that have come together to protect them. In some, conservation work has expanded to include other species and sustainable initiatives such as reforestation.
Before the pandemic, both Matura and Grande Rivière could see 10,000–15,000 turtle-watching visitors each year. With leatherbacks nesting up to 10 times a season (pods up to five) – with 80-100 eggs per nest – each individual turtle and each nest has real value.
“We can tell at the end of the season how many people actually came to Matura, how many people saw that animal and – because we make each leatherback an individual by tagging it – how much revenue was generated from that turtle, ” he explains. Lakhan-Baptiste. “And as they keep coming back, revenue is generated as a result.”
Those who have had the experience of observing turtles often become evangelists for the animals, so word of mouth is also significant. “In the 20 years I’ve been doing this, we’ve eliminated poaching from the dialogue—not from enforcement, but from the guests who come every year,” explains Kevin Muhammad of the Grande Rivière Nature Guides Association (GRNTGA). “Over the last decade, there are over 100,000 people who have become lawyers.”
Although the number of nests in Tobago is much smaller, they have also seen the economic benefits of turtle tourism. “Outside of the main tourist season, which ends around the end of April, they’ll still keep people coming to see the turtles,” explains Giancarlo Lalsingh, a long-time conservationist who was the Program Manager of Save Our Sea Turtles (SOS) Tobago for several years. And visitors, of course, need places to stay, places to eat and ways to get around.
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Since 1965—when the first sea turtle monitoring program was run by the University of the West Indies with the Trinidad & Tobago Field Naturalists Club—several groups have emerged to help protect the turtles in their various communities. But there is tremendous diversity among them.
Some include monitoring for green turtles and loggerheads, most do not. Some tour and are therefore able to generate a modest income; very not. Some have strong governance and administrative capacities – even alignment with overseas entities; very not. Beaches also vary significantly in length, access, amenities and whether they are protected (only three in Trinidad and none in Tobago).
However, what they have in common are the challenges in doing this work: funding; workforce; equipment (from tags and scanners to vehicles); and effective partnerships with state agencies on which they depend for policy, enforcement, coordination and data analysis, road and beach maintenance and — for those who qualify — access to funding through the nation’s $1 billion Green Fund.
There are also gaps in monitoring and evaluation. Many nesting beaches around both islands are not adequately monitored or patrolled – if at all. And while considerable and invaluable attention has been paid to the leatherback, not enough attention has been paid to the smaller and even more vulnerable green and hawksbill turtles that nest across both islands – sometimes on the same beaches as leather back, but often in very different turtles. Poaching of leatherbacks has dropped to close to zero, but falcons and greenbacks remain a frequent target for their meat and shells.
Offshore monitoring is another area that needs attention. As a result, data on leatherback populations is incomplete and there is not enough to accurately estimate peregrine falcons or peregrine falcons, even though the latter may be “a pretty significant and important population,” according to Michelle Cazabon- Mannette, a sea. turtle researcher and director of SpeSeas.
SpeSeas and SOS Tobago have partnered with ProTECTOR of Honduras on the TURT mobile app to help address the offshore data gap. They hope citizens and visitors — especially divers, tour guides, snorkelers, fishermen and boaters — will use it to submit photos of sea turtle sightings on beaches or at sea. It will help researchers identify individual turtles and understand more about their movements, health and survival.
The global struggle to protect biodiversity and halt climate change is, without overstating it, an existential struggle. But these groups show what is possible when people come together for a common good. In many ways, they face odds as long as a baby emerging from the womb as it heads toward the horizon. It is the duty of all of us to give them every opportunity to succeed.
How you can help turtle conservation efforts
Go see the turtles
You can book tours through groups such as Nature Seekers, Grande Rivière Nature Guides Association, Las Cuevas Eco Friendly Association and SOS Tobago partners. They can usually arrange any necessary permits.
Donate and volunteer
You can make financial and in-kind donations, or volunteer your time/expertise in a number of ways. Contact CBOs such as SOS Tobago and Nature Seekers, or the Turtle Village Trust.
Tips for keeping turtles
• If you see a turtle — on land or in the sea — take a photo of its head and upload it to the TURT app.
• Do not drive or light fires on nesting beaches; do not use pole umbrellas; and don’t litter.
• Wait for sandcastles before leaving the beach.
• Give nesting mothers plenty of space and quiet, and do not use bright lights around them or the young.
