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Leatherback Sea Turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) Status: Critically Endangered |
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| The leatherback nesting season in St. Kitts begins in March of each year and runs through the end of July, beginning of August. Hatchlings emerge through October. Leatherbacks nest primarily on the atlantic side of the island with occasional nests found on the caribbean side. They lay between 60 and 100 eggs per nest. The eggs are around 2" in diameter and they incubate between 50 to 70 days. | ||
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Hawksbill Sea Turtles |
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| The hawksbill nesting season in St. Kitts begins in July of each year and runs through the end of January, beginning of February. Hatchlings emerge through April. Hawksbills nest primarily on the caribbean side of the island and the southern peninsula. Occassionally nests are seen on the atlantic side of the island. They lay between 100 to 200 eggs per nest. The eggs are smaller than leatherback eggs, around the size of ping pong balls, and they incubate between 52 to 72 days. | ||
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Poaching |
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Sea turtle nests are poached because many still believe that they are a powerful aprodesiac. A female has not been killed on a nesting beach since 1997 when 3 men were arrested and fined for taking a leatherback female. (http://home.twcny.rr.com/magerandy/SK/SK27.HTML) Leatherback oil is used for medicinal purposes and the meat is eaten. |
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Driving on the beaches |
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Driving on the beaches with both ATVs and automobiles is still a major problem in St. Kitts. A favorite pastitme of many tourists to the island is an ATV tour. Unfortunately, some of these tours are on our major nesting beaches. ATV's and automobiles pack the sand making it difficult for hatchlings to emerge and causing damage to incubating nests. |
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Illegal Tours |
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Unfortunately nesting females are disturbed on some of our major nesting beaches by untrained guides leading illegal tours. During these tours nesting turtles are disturbed with lights (left), inappropriate contact, flash photography, and noise. Please contact Fisheries, the St. Christopher Heritage Society, or the St. Kitts Sea Turtle Monitoring Network if you see any of these activities taking place. Also, please contact us if you are interested in learning more about nesting turtles and going on a night walk. We can advise you on qualified guides so that you are not unwittingly lured into one of these illegal tours. |
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