Turtle Odyssey Exhibition Santa Maria & Espargos

To celebrate World Day for Nature Conservation SOS Tartarugas is delighted to present the exhibition "Turtle Odyssey".

These beautifully shot photographs depict the story of the turtles struggle for survival in Cabo Verde.

The display will be at the Cultural Centre in Santa Maria until the 5th August and then in the Library in Espargos from the 16th to the 22nd August.



Thanks to our colleagues at Natura 2000 for the loan of the panels.

Using great art for social change

Came across this great project which features some beautiful murals brightening towns in Cabo Verde. 

Joel in Cape Verde

and connected to that a project to reduce rubbish

http://www.dolixoaoluxocaboverde.blogspot.com/

Would you believe it? Another early hatching nest!

Another nest hatched on Costa Fragata on Monday night - taking us by surprise since we don't usually have baby turtles until the middle of August.  If the nest incubated for the usual time this means the turtle nested in late May!  A nest already hatched in June in the same area so it is always possible that it was the same early-bird turtle that laid both nests!

The indent is where the nest is

The nest hatched beautifully with every turtle emerging, but tragically EVERY hatchling came straight out of the nest and headed inland towards the lights  - the entire nest was lost except for one that the Rangers managed to find exhausted and dehydrated at the back of the beach.

Sadly all the tracks go the wrong way

Even on the east coast, an area with no tourism development, the light pollution can be very bad.  This nest was in a zone that is affected by large bright white, very tall security lights on the construction site of Dunas (The Resort Group).

So close to the sea but so distracted by lights

Summer Workshops for Kids

Our programme for kids during the school holidays is about to start.  Working with two other children's associations, Noz Kasa (in Santa Maria) and Châ Mateus (Espargos), the programme encompasses fun & educational activities related to the environment and turtles.

Both our partner associations help some of the island's poorest kids.

Newspaper article "SOS Tartarugas Summer Workshops"

Any donations of arts & crafts materials are most welcome.

Small scale fisheries have big impact on turtles

A report from the University of Exeter shows that it is not only large-scale commercial fisheries that are responsible for killing turtles, smaller fishing boats also have an impact.

The study, based on Peru's fishing industry suggests that not only are thousands of turtles killed, but that they have come from nesting beaches all over the world including Australia, Costa Rica, Mexico and the Galapagos.

Senior author, Brendan Godley says
"We have known for a long time that, along with sharks, marine mammals and seabirds, marine turtles often become bycatch as a result large-scale fishing. It is only recently that we have begun to realise that small-scale fisheries may also have a significant impact on marine life. However, we were very surprised when our study revealed just how large an impact small-scale fisheries have on sea turtles."

Five years left for turtles on Sal?

A little bit of controversy has been created with an article in A Semana today which states that turtles could disappear from Sal in five years time.

There are a number of inaccuracies in the article, such as the fact that hunting has increased and that there have already been turtles killed this summer - neither of these comments are true and we will be asking A Semana to correct them.  In addition, the figures quoted at the end reflect what is probably a natural fluctuation in nesting on Sal.

However, it is true to state that extinction could be possible in this time frame, since Sal has a relatively small population of turtles (compared to Boa Vista for example) and they are being killed at the rate of 40-50 a year, even with increased protection. 

In previous years the mortality rate could have been a lot higher and since turtles only nest every 2-3 or 4 years, we could now start to see the effects of this large-scale hunting.

Add to this the fact that almost the entire south and west coast of Sal has become unsuitable for turtles to nest due to construction and bright lights.  Nesting on the west coast of Ponta Preta and Algodoeiro declined by 18% in 2010 in the areas of the new resorts (Tortuga, Dunas and Paradise Beach) and 2011 is expected to be far worse.

It's not hard to see that extinction is a very real possibility. 

Read the A Semana article

Speculation about the season so far...

Those who read our blog or Facebook page regularly will know that we have been experiencing an unusually low number of nests & tracks this year.

The recording of tracks on Sal is only now beginning to be more regular and the total number of nests laid at the start of July would be low even for the start of June!

Our colleagues on other islands are experiencing the same low numbers. 

In Boa Vista, Natura 2000, who have been collecting data on loggerhead nesting for 13 years have told us that they have not seen this kind of low activity in all the time they have been here.

We all hope it is only a delay in the start of the season, perhaps due to the cold water around Cabo Verde right now (colder than usual) or maybe even a cold spring in the feeding grounds where the loggerheads spend their time before they come here to nest.

Fingers crossed that that is all it is and not some major disaster that has disrupted nesting in this important area.

Paulo, Holley & Betânia are delighted to find a nest on Serra Negra