Just over a week later, on April 23rd, another distress call led Ocean Spirits to rescue yet another entangled female leatherback sea turtle, this time caught in the bamboo structures supporting sea moss growth within the breakwater at Sauteurs. With the combined efforts; Benson Nicolas, Kate Charles and Praggi Hypolite with land assistance from a sea moss farmer, the turtle was freed from the entanglement, emphasizing the collaborative approach necessary for effective conservation. Interestingly, this turtle had been tagged by Ocean Spirits at Levera beach in April 2022 and has returned to Grenada to nest again.
Kate Charles ‘Sadly, this scenario is all too familiar for leatherback sea turtles that choose to nest in the Sauteurs area. With the loss of beach space at the Mt Rodney end and changing currents due to the building of a breakwater, these turtles now have only a small suitable area left for nesting. Each nesting season, Ocean Spirits collaborates closely with local sea moss farmers to ensure the safe removal of leatherback sea turtles from their farms, minimizing any disruption to the crops.’
The month concluded with a third successful rescue on April 29th, as members of Ocean Spirits’ Kate Charles, Praggi Hypolite and Tevin Nicolas disentangled a large female leatherback sea turtle from visiting boat anchor ropes in the Sauteurs Breakwater area. The turtle was seen from shore frantically trying to get free, thanks to a quick-thinking member of the public who alerted us, our team swiftly intervened. The turtle was on route to nest on the beach and became entangled in anchor ropes, the lines were wrapped multiple times around the turtle’s front flipper. The rapid response and expertise of the team resulted in the successful liberation of the distressed turtle, marking another triumph in marine conservation efforts.
May brought a new challenge as Dr. Carter Vet responded to an emergency call from the EHS and Watersports Centre at Sandals Grenada around midday on Sunday 5th May that there were multiple turtles trapped in a fish holding net in the south of the island. Dr Carter responded immediately with his trusty turtle warrior sidekick, Karim Carter. Captain Cavel mobilized a team of divers and boat support onto the watersports boat and headed to the site. On arrival they found one dead green turtle floating, likely dead for several hours and could see many others frantically swimming around inside the net amongst the fish, initially the team thought there was seven to released however in total there was 12 turtles inside the net. Most of the turtles inside the net were below the legal capture size limit (25lb) in the open season however, since April 1st , the turtle hunting season has been closed.
The owner of the fish holding net could not be found and with no identifiable marks on the net to be consulted, so the team went ahead and removed all the turtles to prevent any further deaths without releasing any of the fish captured. Dr Carter ‘we were too late for one, but I am happy we were able to save the rest of the endangered turtles.’ All the turtles inside the net were identified as green sea turtles ranging in sizes, the smallest turtles were immediately released, and the larger turtles were tagged and biometrics collected before release. The dead turtle was taken away for necropsy by Dr Carter with results pending.
Thank you to Benson Nicolas, Tevin Nicolas, Praggi Hypolite, Dr Carter and Kate Charles for all their passion and dedication to protecting sea turtles throughout the year. A special thank you to the Earth Guardians; Alifa St Paul-Munro (EHS manager) and Jeniffer Greenidge (Director of Guest Services) and the Watersports team, Cavell Jaldoo, Thayne Mitchell and Travis Howe at Sandals Grenada for their continued support when it comes to sea turtle conservation in Grenada.
Lastly, we acknowledge all the sea moss farmers for their ongoing cooperation during the nesting season and support ensuring entangled turtles are safely released.
Ocean Spirits