Eighty-two baby green sea turtles were released into the sea Sunday night after their nest on a beach near Boggy Sand Rd, West Bay, was discovered by a resident.
The resident called 911 who in turn dispatched a team of DoE officers to inspect the nest. There they found some of the turtles had hatched and were nearly ready to scramble towards the sea.
DoE collected those turtles to wait for a night-time release. On Sunday night DoE officers, assisted by a group of West Bay residents, carried the tiny turtles within 10 feet of the water’s edge.
DoE Marine Enforcement Officer Mark Orr explained it is essential that the turtles walk down the sand and into the water, so they can ‘imprint’ their location. If they survive until adulthood, the turtles will return to the same beach to nest.
‘It’s one of the amazing mysteries of turtles, that they can hardly see, they can’t really smell but just walking down that small bit of beach, their internal GPS will bring them back 16 years later.’
Tracking programs have found many of the turtles will travel as far as Honduras, Nicaragua and Cuba, before returning after about 16 years.
‘When they sexually mature, they instinctively cut a B-line straight back to that beach (on which they were originally born),’ said Mr. Orr.
A further 20 to 25 turtles from the nest were due to be released Monday night.
The release is significant because it was only the fourth assisted release DoE has undertaken this nesting season. Another 40 nests on Grand Cayman are thought to have hatched and returned to the sea without assistance this season, explained Mr. Orr.
Each nest usually carries between 100 and 150 eggs. Scientists say only one in every 1,000 baby turtles will survive until adulthood.
The release comes at a time when sea-turtle nesting populations on Grand Cayman are dangerously close to extinction.
Historical accounts describe the Cayman Islands sea turtle nesting population as numbering in the millions – one of the largest in the Atlantic. Today, only a handful of turtles remain, the DoE said recently.
Mr. Orr praised the resident for calling 911.
FYI
Anyone that finds a nest of hatched turtles is asked to call the DoE on 949-8469 during business hours. After hours, call 911 or Mr. Orr direct on 916-4271.
Related Videos
