ORANJESTAD - Last week the first sea turtle nest to hatch this season on Statia has been confirmed as a hawksbill nest, and it did not just hatch, it thrived, recording an 86.3 percent hatching success rate.
The nest was excavated by the St. Eustatius National Parks Foundation’s (STENAPA) sea turtle team, who counted 63 empty eggshells, clear evidence that a large number of hatchlings had already made their way to the sea on their own. The team also found six live hatchlings still in the nest, along with four that had died and seven eggs that never hatched. The six survivors were released and made their way to the ocean.
But the nest’s real story began weeks earlier, on Zeelandia Beach, where STENAPA’s turtle team discovered the nest being washed away by the surf. Rather than let it wash out, the team relocated all eggs to a safer stretch of beach, reburying them in a new nest chamber built to closely mimic the original.
It is delicate work. Sea turtle embryos are extremely sensitive to movement, and relocations are only carried out when a nest is genuinely at risk, from erosion or flooding, for example, and every egg has to be handled and reburied with care.
For STENAPA, the payoff was worth it. "This nest is a wonderful example of how conservation efforts can have a direct impact," the organization said. "Without intervention, this nest would likely have been lost to the waves. Every nest protected is another step towards securing a future for Statia’s sea turtles."
The public is asked to help. Anyone who spots a nesting turtle or hatchlings on Statia’s beaches is urged to contact STENAPA immediately at +599 319 5787 or +599 319 5180 (both numbers accept calls or WhatsApp messages).
