Trinidadian Heroes


Trinidad is Saving the Turtles

In October 2015, forty-two turtles of varies species were found dead under two to three feet of seaweed along the shores of Barbados. This species included Hawksbill, Leatherback and Green Turtles. However, there were no reports of turtles being killing by the seaweed in Trinidad but many of them had to return to the water in search of a new nesting ground since the beaches were covered in mounds of seaweed. Upon this horrendous discovery, the government of Trinidad and Tobago took action to protect these turtles from the smothering effects of the seaweed.

            In Trinidad there are many hotspots for turtle nesting along the east coast, these beaches include Grand Rivière, Mathura and Manzanilla/ Mayaro. In areas like Manzanilla and Mayaro the sand is compact making it simple to use an excavator to extract seaweed from the beaches, clearing the area for turtles to nest. However a problem arose when this technique was tried in Matura and Grand Rivière. These beaches consist of very loose sand, which cannot support the weight of an excavator. According to Candice Superville, in an interview with Newsday, she said, “it has to be removed manually, and Matura Beach is about 7.5 km so that’s a lot of ground to cover”. However, this is necessary since Mature and Grand Rivière are the main beaches that the turtles nest on in Trinidad.

Hatchlings leaving their nest in Grand Rivière; Credit: Nirvana Rajaram
          From a personal visit to the Grand Rivière Beach, I had the opportunity to interact with one of the residents that lived on the beachfront. He took it upon himself to be a protector of the leatherback turtles. He, along with some of the residents living nearby try their best to keep the beach clean and to protect the hatchlings from vultures while they are making their way to the ocean. According to this resident, he says, “helping these animals seem like our patriotic duty. We can’t sit around and let these turtles suffer, nor can we let the tourism industry fail. I feel like this is the stance that I must take for my country”.

           With memebers of our nation as enthusiastic as this about protecting our wildlife from the natural dangers they face, it would seem that our nation’s wildlife is in caring, capable hands.

Credit: Nirvana Rajaram

Source: Superville, Candice. Interview with Newsday 2015




            

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