Turtles

We write today to tell you about our new learning experience with one of our project partners.  We greatly enjoyed the personal connection with their current project and were delighted to participate in the action. Please be sure to see the six photos at the end of this journal.  We also have a video to share with you at another time.

Environmental changes impact our entire planet and El Salvador suffers from these effects.  It started with deforestation, progressed to improper agricultural practices, use of chemicals poisoning the land and people, and now the over harvesting from the ocean.

For years, turtle eggs have been in the regular diet of the beach people and then they discovered that the inland dwellers enjoyed them as well and paid good money to have them.

The turtle population is dangerously in decline.  Sea turtles lay eggs every ten years.  The first twenty four hours after hatching, the newborns are at risk as their shell has not hardened and they are prey for birds, sea crabs and large fish.  About ten percent of the hatched eggs survive in the ocean.

An environmental organization FIAES is taking action to protect and increase the population of sea turtles.  Sea turtles begin to lay eggs on the beaches of El Salvador in September and continue thru February.  Stations are located along the beaches with a 24/7 staff to watch for turtles laying eggs.  In some cases the staff must carry the 100 pound turtles closer to their work site and help the turtle dig a nest at the beach.  After the turtle creates a nest, the zone staff removes those eggs from the beach into an enclosed safe zone.

 

The safe zone is a large grid of string creating 200 one foot by one foot squares.  Here the eggs are re-nested for incubation and are documented by type of turtle, date and the name of the “re-nester”.  Then the staff waits forty five days for the baby turtles to dig their way up and out of the nest.  When they reach the surface, they are placed in a tub and held for twenty four hours for their shells to harden.

After twenty four hours, the staff waits for the right ocean conditions and then releases the baby turtles.  The local staff family members (children) call their friends and they carefully place each turtle on the sand.  You can place the turtle in any direction and instinctively it turns to the ocean and quickly heads to sea.  After a wave or two they are out of sight.

The staff keeps detailed records of the number and type of turtles laying eggs and the number of baby turtles released. In the future FIAES plans to place a chip in the turtles to better monitor the results of this preservation project.  Our partner hopes to continue working with them to improve the balance of marine life.