Latest news on The Turtle Family Another fascinating report from Director of Sea Sense Lindsey West. As you‘ll read there is mixed news, but with the help of your adoption their important work continues to protect rare turtles: “This time last year we shared the exciting news that 2016 was a record-breaking year for green turtle nesting in Juani Island. In 2016 Nasorro Shahame, the Sea Sense Conservation Officer, recorded an incredible 225 nests in Juani. The Sea Sense team was eager to see what happened in 2017 would it be another record breaking year? “Unfortunately, the opposite happened. We were disappointed that 2017 saw the lowest level of nesting activity in more than 10 years. Of course this was very disappointing for the Sea Sense team, but other long-term research by sea turtle biologists has shown that high levels of inter-annual variability in green turtle nesting numbers are common. “So which factors determine whether a green turtle is ready to return to her nesting beach to lay her eggs? Completing a nesting season requires a huge energy investment. A female turtle must eat enough seagrass and store sufficient energy while foraging to facilitate egg production, then painstakingly construct a nest on the sand, survive at sea between laying nests, and swim the long round-trip between foraging and nesting areas. It usually takes a female green turtle three years to build sufficient energy stores between nesting seasons. This can be extended to five years if seagrass availability is affected by climate-driven fluctuations in oceanographic conditions.
MAFIA ISLAND TANZANIA, INDIAN OCEAN “Is it just a coincidence that the lethal heat wave associated with the 2015/17 El Niño* hit the western Indian Ocean around February 2016? Could that have affected seagrass production and delayed many female turtles from returning to Juani in 2017? We won’t ever know the answer to that question but the hypothesis does highlight how vulnerable sea turtles and their habitats are to climate change. We’ll continue to do everything we can to ensure a future for Tanzania’s precious turtle population with your help.” *A climate phenomenon that can cause both droughts and floods around the world
PREHISTORIC REPTILES Green turtles are ancient, mysterious ocean-living reptiles unchanged for 200 million years. The only vegetarian marine turtle they are hunted for eggs and meat, and to make soup. Populations take years to recover, as turtles are slow to reproduce, not maturing till 30 years. Females lay hundreds of eggs in the sand, but only one in a thousand survives to adulthood. Slow and cumbersome on land, in the sea they are fast and streamlined swimmers. Due to overexploitation, disturbance of nesting beaches, and pollution of the sea they are today among the world’s most vulnerable animals. SPRING 2018 | TURTLE FAMILY 37