Sea Turtle Monitoring

 
 

On the Galapagos Islands we partnered with the Galapagos National Park as Turtle Nesting Assistants.  The program’s main focus and goal is to help monitor the new and existing turtle nesting patterns, keep an eye out for new hatchlings, and record any activity found on the beach. All sea turtles lay eggs on the same beach they were born, so monitoring Isabella’s Puerto Villamil Beach serves many important purposes for the conservation efforts of these animals. Being a part of a bigger conservation effort as a whole was truly a dream come true!

 

Chelsea explains the sea turtle nesting process from an actual nesting site we discovered on our morning turtle monitoring walk on Isabella Island, Galapagos, Ecuador.

 

Sea Turtle Monitoring Program

The program, IOI(Intercultural Outreach Initiative) Galapagos, was started by Johann Bess in 2016. Noticing fluctuating numbers in sea turtles locally and around the globe, IOI Galapagos was created to research the local impact on nesting sea turtles. Many sea turtle programs around the world model their efforts after the Galapagos National Park due to the high numbers and population that still exists at the Islands. 

    “you can have all the funding in the world, but if you don’t educate people to make change, nothing will happen.”
    — Nuria, Sea Turtle Nesting Director

    Intercultural Outreach Initiative

    IOI Galapagos works closely with the local people on the Galapagos Islands to educate both young & older generations of human & environmental impact on turtle populations. Many workshops are hosted within the community to create further awareness of good practices for taking care of sea turtles and their environment.

    Common threats to sea turtle population on Isabela

    • Hermit crabs 
    • Humans poaching and digging up nests
    • Destruction of nesting habitat
    • Invasive species: dogs and cats
    • Entanglement in fishing gear
    • Coastal/commercial development
    • Plastic and marine debris
    • Climate change/ changing of tides

    Community awareness & workshops

    Below are some of the many ways IOI Galapagos works with the community to further the relationship between the local people, wildlife and their environment.

    • Help with the wellbeing of turtles.
    • Disturbing/remove the vegetation along ocean shores
    • Regulating commercial redevelopment along the coast
    • Consuming turtle eggs
    • Hunting sea turtles
    • Improving recycling techniques
    • Good gardening practices
    • Educate locals on what is happening around the world environmentally.
    • Personal wellbeing
    • Student workshops

    Future plans & needs

    Working with wildlife requires a very elaborate approval process with the Galapagos National Park to further research possibilities with sea turtles. Interaction with sea turtles and their eggs vary from each location they are monitored due to limited recourses and/or capabilities at each island.  In the future they hope to expand their sea turtle monitoring capabilities:

    • Marking nests
      • The Galapagos National Park does not allow nests to be marked on Isabella Island due to tourist and locals disturbing the nests. The ability to mark nests varies from beach to beach.
    • Excavating eggs
    • Incubate eggs
    • Turtle hatching/release
    • Community monitoring program
      • With the help of students and people from the local community, IOI Galapagos plans to eventually have a community sea turtle monitoring program, where it would be a community effort to report and help with the conservation for sea turtles.