Jumby Bay Hawksbill Project
July Update 2009

The 23rd season of the Jumby Bay Hawksbill Project began officially on June 1st. Moonlit patrols for nesting activity continue every hour of every night until mid-November to ensure all nesting turtles are documented. So far we are right on schedule with turtle numbers, having seen 42 individual turtles and 93 nests. The season started slowly and inconsistently; nights with no activity would follow nights with 4 to 5 nests. However unpredictable, there has still been a steady increase of turtles and we are now entering the peak nesting period [which means it's a good time to stop by the beach!]. Surprisingly, we have also already had 5 nests hatch, one as early as June 5th – surprising because a 2 month incubation period means a hawksbill nested as early as April!


Patrolling for turtles still manages to surprise us even when it's our second year with the project. In addition to the extremely early nest hatch, this week a turtle left us stunned. Strong and determined, she dragged herself up on the beach with the back end of her shell crushed and her rear flippers limp. A wide, jagged crack in her shell revealed broken bone and tissue, and yet she still hauled herself onto the beach determined to nest. After reading her familiar tags and checking the book we discovered that she had nested on June 29th. The injury – most likely a close encounter with a boat – occurred less than 3 weeks earlier. We transported her to the turtle house to examine and clean the wound. Plans to put her shell back together were abandoned as we saw the severity of the wound and that pieces of shell and the bone plate were missing. After applying epoxy to a reparable part of her shell, we decided it was best to return her to water. Before returning, we saw movement in both flippers and contractions as if she were going to lay – both good signs for recovery. A veterinarian specializing in sea turtles has high hopes for her and suggested transporting her to a rehabilitation center if she returns.

[extract from Egret Eye View published August 18th]