On Friday the 6th of May at approximately four in the afternoon the St. Maarten Nature Foundation was alerted to what was the fifth recorded nesting leatherback sea turtle of the 2011 nesting season. The 6 fit long, approximately 400 pound female crawled up on Guana Bay Beach at approximately four in the afternoon and returned to the ocean one hour and forty minutes later. There were several onlookers to witness what has been called one of the most unique events in Nature occurring right here on St. Maarten. Nature Foundation staff took several measurements of the animal, recorded nest location, and took identification pictures of the nesting female. Recorded data will be entered in Nature Foundation Sea Turtle Research Program database and the nest will be monitored on a daily basis. The eggs are expected to hatch within a few months.Based on ARTICLE 16 and 17 of the Nature Conservation Ordinance St. Maarten it is illegal to kill, wound, capture, pick-up, possesses, or disturb sea turtles and their nests. It is also forbidden to disturb damage or destroy its nest as well as to to pick-up or to destroy the eggs of animals belonging to a protected species.
The Nature Foundation asks that people do not drive on the nesting beaches and that they walk their dog on a leash. To report any activity regarding sea turtles, please call the Nature Foundation Sea Turtle Hotline on 9229 or call the Nature Foundation office at 5444267 or email the Foundation at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
