August 2011 - Christian Roder
A new interdisciplinary research project at IFM-GEOMAR
On Boavista, in a new interdisciplinary research project, marine scientists from the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR) in Kiel, Germany, study the dynamics of the world's third largest nesting population of the endangered loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) on the Cape Verde islands and the mechanisms and genetics of their reproduction. Turtle Foundation is of the party ...
> GEOMAR: Observing platform sea turtle
> GEOMAR: Loggerhead Turtles of the Cape Verde Islands
November 12, 2010 - Christian Roder
With the support of the Becker-Cordes Foundation and the Senior Expert Service, Turtle Foundation iniciated a handicraft workshop for unemployed people from the barracas, a poor neighbourhood of Sal Rei. Here the people learn how to make souveniers out of material of their daily life and we are encouraging this group of people to set up a cooperative to create conditions to sell the produced souveniers in shops or stalls on the street to tourists.
So far a group of 10 women frequently attends the workshop where they produced toy turtles, cotton bags, little containers, stamps, paintings etc. whereas most of the items are decorated with sea turtles.
November 12, 2010 - Christian Roder
TF in the opening of a new kindergaden in Boavista
A new kindergarten opened recently in Sal Rei and Turtle Foundation was invited to give a presentation about sea turtles to the children.
A video was shown about the life of sea turtles and we explained about the importance of the conservation of these animals. Also the kids learned a turtle-song and in the end everyone agreed that sea turtles are friends of people and should be protected and conserved.
Turtle Foundation encourages volunteers and tourists to bring school material to Boavista, which can in turn be used in events with the kids, environmental education projects (such as Escola na Natureza), or given out as prizes for local contests.
November 7, 2010 - Joana Hancock
After six fun weekends and more than 100 kids participating, the project School in Nature (Escola na Natureza) has finished for this year, with many tales to tell...
After six fun weekends and more than 100 kids participating, the project School in Nature (Escola na Natureza) has finished for this year, with many tales to tell.
The project, run in partnership between Turtle Foundation and Clube Ambiental da Boavista, and funded by GEF - United Nations Small Grant Program, was a great success. Throughout the summer kids from all over the island had the chance to spend the weekend in Boa Esperança beach, and actively participate in the Turtle patrols, as well as receiving lectures about sea turtle conservation in an unique beach setting!
The program reached its end this weekend, in a Student Mini-Symposium, where groups representing each village presented some work on what they learned during the weekend.
There were three very good presentations, especially the one presented by the team from Rabil, who staged a very fun and engaging theatrical play, which was much applauded by the public present.
Due to the success of the program, we plan to run it again next year, hoping that even more kids can participate.
October 26, 2010 - Reisa Latorra
Mass Stranding of rough toothed whales on Boavista
From "A Semana" 26 Oct 2010
Beached dolphins buried on Boa Vista beach 21 October 2010
The fifty-odd dolphins that beached themselves and died on Estoril beach on the island of Boa Vista Wednesday have been buried at the spot where they came ashore. The information was provided to A Semana Online by Ministry of the Environment, Rural Development and Marine Resources delegate Ivone Delgado.
According to Delgado, the dolphins had been approaching the coast of Boa Vista for several days. “At approximately 3:00 pm Tuesday, several dozen dolphins beached themselves on Chaves beach in front of the Riu Karamboa hotel. Tourists and local residents helped the mammals back into the sea. At about 6:00 pm, the dolphins swam ashore once more, this time on Estoril beach, and were one again helped back into the sea.”
The cetaceans were less fortunate the third time they beached themselves, this time at night on Estoril beach. “More than 50 dolphins beached themselves and died. The dolphins were buried on the beach after biological samples were taken from at least ten of the animals for analysis and to determine the causes of the beaching,” added the Environment Ministry delegate. This was the second mass beaching of sea mammals in Cape Verde this year – over the summer, pilot whales swam ashore and perished on at least two different islands.
October 25, 2010 - Joana Hancock
The field season in over for 2010 - and what a year it was!
We've put together a midterm report.
The turtles are no longer nesting on Boavista, the season is over. Some nests are still hatching, and we wish the little hatchlings luck as they bravely face the dangers of being a tiny hatchling in a big ocean. We hope lots of them make it and return to nest.
We had a bit of a late start this year, owing to some difficulties getting the containers with all the equipment to Boavista, and some customs problems. Next year, our gear will all be here already and ready to go. Once the patrols got under way, they were remarkably successful, with little or no mortality on beaches patrolled by Turtle Foundation. Our six "Camps in Nature" for local schoolchildren went swimmingly, with lots of participants learning about turtle biology, and biodiversity conservation, and the problems of plastic trash. Several beach clean-up activities left the beaches much nicer and cleaner for tourists, locals, turtles and birds alike.
For more information on our field season, see our midterm season report :
http://www.turtle-foundation.org/Portals/0/Content/Cape%20Verde%20mid-term%20Report%202010_c.pdf
September 17, 2010 - Joana Hancock
INVITATION:
Beach Clean-up in Boa Esperança: Sunday, September 19, 2010
The first clean-up of the season took place in late May this year, and 3 trucks loaded with trash taken from the beach was the result.
Following this success, the kids of the island, during the "School in Nature" removed more than 100 bags of trash from the beach over the last couple of months.
This is the ultimate clean-up, we believe that the beach will be finally mostly trash free, just ready and good for the hatchlings that have recently started to emerge on the beach :-)
So, if you are around, spread the word, and JOIN!
By the way, there might be a surprise, not to miss…!!!!
PICK UP TIME: 10 am
WHERE: Front of Camara Municipal
DESTINATION: Boa Esperança beach (at the WRECK!)
WHAT TO BRING: Water, and snack. Bring plastic bags, gloves if you want, there's never enough of these!
THANK YOU!
September 5, 2010: Joana Hancock
According to our teams, Olive Ridleys (Lepidochelys olivacea) might be nesting in Boavista! At least 3 turtles that match the description of an olive ridley have been found nesting in Curral Velho, Lacacão and Norte beach. This is very exciting news, as this species is considered rare on the island!!!
August 23, 2010 - Joana Hancock
Arrested!
Two poachers were arrested last night in the little beach of Água Doce, near Boa Esperança!! We were first warned by the situation by the NGO Natura2000, who told us of the high mortality on this little secluded beach (Água Doce), about 30 minutes walk from our camp in Boa Esperança, which was never protected but had plenty of activity.
Our team started regular census on this team this month, only to find out with dismay and frustration the number of turtle carcasses accumulating every week.
Taking advantage of the presence of volunteers in the camp and a motivated team of soldiers, we started some patrols on this beach a few days ago, in hope of finding the poachers.
The "poacher hunt" set by our team in the beach yielded some results. Last night, while poachers waited patiently for the patrol to end, they did not expect that a second patrol were on their way. Their were caught by surprise around 1 am, when they were supposedly "looking for crabs", with sharp knifes, 3 buckets and a dog. Typical excuse here in Boavista, but not tolerated anymore from us!
Just 4 weeks ago, a poacher was intercepted in Boa Esperança beach (also "looking for crabs"). His knife and personal belongings got confiscated and a police complaint was filed.
Unfortunately not caught in the act, the 3 butchering knifes and a backpack stainned with blood and stinking of turtle flesh was enough for the soldiers and then later for the police to arrest them.
We were surprised with the quick collaboration provided by the police, who quickly jumped in our car at the inconvenient time of 4:30am.
These two people arrested had been previously mentioned by locals as some of the most active poachers in the area.
August 5, 2010 - Joana Hanock
"Escola na Natureza"
From: Turtle Foundation and Clube Ambiental da Boavista
It's with great joy that we announce that we are already on the 3rd "Escola na Natureza" camp in boa Esperança beach, a project carried out in partnership with Clube Ambiental da Boavista, with financial support of the UN GEF Small Grants program.
This camp takes place every weekend, and includes up to 25 local youngsters from all over the island. In this project, the classroom is exchanged for a beach-front setting, where kids receive lectures on sea turtle biology and conservation, talk about trash (and clean-up the beach after that!!!), the importance of biodiversity, and other issues such as the importance of the family, children rights and much more!
So far the influence has been great, a total of 40 kids participated in the first 2 camps. We are planning 6 camps in total, to take place in the months of August and September.
The highlight of the weekend is of course the night patrols. Here, kids join the Turtle Foundation teams on the patrols, and have direct hands-on experience in obtaining data from the nesting turtles, including egg counst, assisting with tagging and measuring, and taking behavioral data. The next day, to "relax", they must show what they have learnt by answering quiz questions in fun beach games. It is a lot of fun!!
The camp is open to any kid from the islands, although visitors are welcome to join the group at any time during the weekend.
Recently, the project got media coverage on Cape Verde and Portuguese news. To see the footage, please visit the link:
http://www.rtc.cv/index.php?paginas=13&id_cod=4689
July 24, 2010 - Joana Hancock
Update on the Curral Velho camp and the equipment containers
After 1 and half month delay, and too many turtles unprotected and killed because of this ridiculous situation, we have been finally granted access to our containers and thus our camp equipment, and will be able to start setting up the Curral Velho camp soon!
This is a relief for all us, who have been stressing out at the sight of the many turtles found dead on the beach of Lacacão until now. Hopefully things will change very soon, as they have in Boa Esperança beach so far. At least 20 turtles were recorded killed this season in this beach before we set up the camp last sunday, but so far no turtles were found dead, which shows that our presence in this beach has been effective.
So finally we will be able to start our camps, and improve dramatically the protection of the beaches in Boa Esperança, Lacacão and Curral Velho.
On the positive side, we are already day-dreaming about next season, when at once all the camp equipment will be in Boavista already (we'll never trust container companies AGAIN), and we can start with our program from day 1!
July 14, 2010 - Joana Hancock
TAOLA - Cape Verdian Sea Turtle Network meets again!
The Cape Verdian Sea Turtle Network had its second annual meeting on the 28-30 June, which was organized in the Hotel Marine Club in Boavista.
During this meeting, the Cape Verdian Sea Turtle Network achieved many things.
The main thing was bringing together many people, institutions and organizations together, to discuss the problems and opportunities regarding sea turtle protection and conservation. Discussions included the need to improve protection, problems related to coastal development and sand mining, specially in the islands of Sal, Boavista and Fogo, the trade of sea turtle meat between the islands, standardization of research protocols, and regulation of turtle-watching tours.
Also very interesting was to watch presentations given by the different protection and conservation initiatives island wide. All these initiatives are very interesting, and it is inspiring to see how people in different islands with little or no resources sometimes are achieving so much in terms of protection, awareness and research... Many of the projects shared the same limitations (lack of funding, support from government and lack of volunteers), but all shared the same passion and dedication to the sea turtle cause, and it was great witnessing that!
Important decisions were made in terms of setting up a national regulation for turtle-watching, or to implement the Sea Turtle Conservation National plan.
The meeting took place between the 28-30 June. The next one will be scheduled for next Spring. We all look forward to it!
July 12, 2010 - Joana Hancock
Slowly slowy getting there... BOA ESPERANÇA (Good Hope)!
The first turtles arrived a few weeks ago, filling our teams with hopes and expectations of a great season. With adequate funding, a team of local assistants formed, and a dedicated group of camp coordinators, we could only hope that the season would start smoothly and without any major trouble.
However, falling victims of heavy bureaucracy around the shipment and arrival of the containers coming from Germany with all our field equipment and camp material (more that 1 month late), we have experience many logistical difficulties in establishing the camps in time. To the expense of many turtles that we are failing to protect, the team has been feeling frustrated and angry with the situation.
Nevertheless, we are happy to announce that we finally established a basic camp in Boa Esperança beach, providing protection to the nesting beaches from Sunday night on.
We hope that soon we will have the conditions to set up the camp in Curral Velho beach, to provide also protection to one of our most problematic beaches, Lacacão, where turtles are, unfortunately, being slaughtered already.
We really appreciate the support that many people have been giving us in this moment of trouble, and although nothing will bring the killed turtles back to life, we eagerly expect the time when we move to Curral Velho and complete our protection project.
In the meantime, we are happy to inform all that patrols are also running at a daily basis in the beaches of Canto and Norte (since the last week of June), reporting only one dead turtle so far in Norte, a result extremely positive so far!!!
Stay in touch for an update on the situation, and wish or team luck!
July 10, 2010 - Joana Hancock
TF staff receives trainning at Ervatão Camp
From the 8th until the 10th of July this year, the Turtle Foundation camp coordinators Amanda, Mafalda and Sara and our local coordinator for the village “Fundo das Figueiras” Manuel, were sent to the sea turtle camp at Ervatão beach at the east coast of Boavista, to receive additional training.
At Ervatao Beach, the capeverdian NGO Natura 2000 is running a sea turtle camp since several years, to study the loggerhead turtles and give protection to them during their time on the beach. Here our camp coordinators worked for two nights alongside with spanish and capverdian students, as well as Natura 2000 staff and learned how to conduct the night patrols, the work with the nesting turtles and the morning surveys according to the protocol recently agreed between the two NGOs for the island.
Turtle Foundation`s coordinators were very happy about this experience and what they learned in the 2 days and nights at Ervatao. Following up with patrolling the beaches they have to work on, once the Turtle Foundation Camps are set up, this experience will certainly improve their ability to do a got job for the turtles at Boavista.
We greatly thank the help and support provided by Natura 2000, this season, as well as past ones, and wish them and all the other turtle teams in Cape Verde an excellent start to the season!
July 3, 2010
Article about Turtle Foundation in Portuguese paper A Semana
For the original article in Portuguese, see:
http://asemana.publ.cv/spip.php?article54050&ak=1
This Monday Turtle Foundation begins to mount camps on the beaches of Boa Vista. The aim is to monitor the main beaches where turtles nest. The turtles are threatened primarily by human hunting. For Semana Online, biologist Joana Hancock talks about the protection effort that Turtle Foundation is implementing to change the mentality of Cape Verdeans and to teach the local community about the dangers that the turtles, around since the time of the dinosaurs, continue to face and which threaten them with extinction.
For about four months there will be patrols on the beaches of the North, with the support of the military. These patrols will be assisted by beach camps on the southern beach of Curral Velho and Lacacão, and also on the northwest beach of Boa Esperanca. "These camps will be open to the general public and anyone can participate in this campaign, between July and October," the biologist explains. There will be activities for beach cleaning and environmental education sessions.
Besides the nest counts and beach protection, done this year again with the support of military, Turtle Foundation believes the success of this venture for the life of turtles can only be achieved if the entire community supports the protection of their ecological heritage. A task that has not been easy, as Joana Hancock, one of the representatives of this organization, tells us,. "Unfortunately, here people ask for something in return for providing this voluntary service, to protect their natural assets. And we have nothing to give in return, besides helping to ensure a future for sea turtles, bequeathing this great natural heritage of Cape Verde to the next generation. "
The foundation will work primarily with residents of the North. A volunteer training will start this Friday to teach the residents of Joao Galego and Fundo das Figueiras to take care of this great natural treasure of Cape Verde. Volunteers will also learn more about the environment, endangered creatures and the importance of biodiversity preservation.
According to Joana Hancock, Turtle Foundation will accept applications for volunteers from all over the country. "Any volunteer work has to be free. We open doors to receive applications from any person. We are unable to provide pay. But in the camps, where people can stay for a minimum period of one week, we offer three meals, “ says Joana.
"School in nature":
In addition to all this work to protect the species, the foundation this year has received funding for the project "School in nature". This is a series of camps, on the week-ends, for young people from Boa Vista that will take place during the months of July, August and September. The idea is that students learn about biodiversity, participate in patrols, and work directly with research teams on the beach.
It will be an unforgettable experience, says Joana Hancock, referring to the experience of watching nesting turtles, a rare spectacle of nature in the world, as you have the opportunity to learn even more about the environment, endangered creatures and the importance of turtle preservation. "They are very special moments, very beautiful. Cape Verde is the third most important place for nesting Loggerhead turtles. And to witness this manifestation of nature is a unique opportunity that no one should lose, "she stresses.
Registration of volunteers: www.turtle-foundation.org
June 21, 2010 - Joana Hancock
Green light for the "Escola na Natureza" project in Boa Esperança beach
Turtle Foundation and Clube Ambiental da Boavista have just been awarded funding from the Global Environment Facility's Small Grant Program for the project "Escola na Natureza", an environmental education project that will include weekend camps for young people in Boavista and other activities, in the beach of Boa Esperança!!!
The project aims at gathering up to 150 youngsters from Boavista in several weekend camps in Boa Esperança beach, where they will learn about the biodiversity of the island, the importance of a clean and healthy environment, and of course, about the turtles! Open air classrooms, games, beach clean-ups and night patrols are just some of the activities included.
The project will run from mid July to mid September and is done is strict partnership between Turtle Foundation and Clube Ambiental da Boavista.
June 21, 2010 - Reisa Latorra, Turtle Foundation USA
Two weeks on Boavista, Cape Verde
I am back home after spending 2 weeks on Boavista. What an amazing place and an amazing experience. Boavista is so different than where I live – it’s a dry desert that seems almost barren on the land, surrounded by deep blue ocean filled with life – tropical fishes; dolphins, whales and sharks at certain times of the year; and of course, sea turtles. There are osprey, and kestrels, and the magnificent frigatebird (I didn’t see that one, though). And the people are unfailingly friendly, smiling, and wonderful. A place you easily feel at home, and makes it hard to leave.
I arrive in early June, before the turtles start nesting. My plan was to help with the Cape Verde Sea Turtle Network meeting and and help set up Turtle Foundation’s field camps. But the meeting is postponed, and the 2 containers with all our camp gear haven’t arrived in Boavista yet. I’m afraid I’m not as helpful to the team as I’d hoped to be. But I accompany Lead Biologist Christian Roder and Volunteer Coordinator Joana Hancock on the beach surveys to see how the beaches have changed since last year, and to see if any turtle tracks indicate any early nesters. We walk the beaches of Boa Esperança, Norte and Canto in the north, and Lacacão and Curral Velho in the south. The beaches in the north are covered with plastic. Where does it all come from? Turtle Foundation holds several beach clean-ups each season. On Norte we find the carcasses, many months old, of 11 whales that have apparently beached themselves. Later we hear there were 40 that stranded. (I’m having a whale expert friend try to identify our photos.) There is one turtle track on Lacacão – a turtle has nested, then walked for ages along the shore before returning to the sea. The track is directly in front of the huge new Riu hotel currently under construction, which will have 3500 beds. It seems to stretch forever along the shore. We have to wonder if something from the construction has disoriented the turtle, and we wonder how many turtles and hatchlings will be disoriented by the hotel lights when it is up and running. One of TF’s goals is to work with Riu to make the hotel as turtle-friendly as possible, minimizing lights facing the beach and keeping construction from destroying nesting habitat. On our way to the beach, though, we pass a billboard that shows a massive golf and beach resort planned on this beach, that literally dwarfs the existing hotel. This would devastate the nesting habitat in this area, not to mention the rest of the environmental impacts. How can they even consider this?
Joana and Christian organize a meeting in the village of Fundo das Figueiras. The locals from all the nearby villages are invited, to ask questions and get information about Turtle Foundation’s project. We hope some of the poachers are there. Alternative sources of income, such as tourism, craft production, and providing homestays for Turtle Foundation volunteers are discussed. We ask for volunteers to help patrol the beaches and learn about the turtles – if they prove reliable, there may be jobs as rangers or tour guides in the future. The meeting is spirited, with lots of participation. This is great – the locals know Turtle Foundation cares about them as well as the turtles, and wants to hear their input.
We get a chance to go scuba diving and jump on it. Joana and I are lucky enough to see a large male Loggerhead turtle in the water. He is magnificent. The females, when they come ashore to nest, are so ungainly. It is clearly an effort for them to move on land, but in the water they are so graceful and powerful. It reminds us, again, of why it is so important to protect these wonderful creatures.
The two weeks is up too soon, and I am hugging everyone goodbye and promising to come back. I mean it, too. I wish the Turtle Foundation team and all the turtles a successful nesting season. Be safe all of you.
May 24, 2010 - Joana Hancock
Return to Turtle Land
The Turtle Foundation team has finally reunited for the start of a new season in Boavista. Expectations are high for 2010. Being back and meeting with several friends and colleagues in Boavista, it was fun to hear some comment that the turtles will arrive earlier this season, given to the very mild winter this year in Boavista, anticipating a good season. Whether or not these beliefs will prove right, being back is comforting and exciting at the same time.
With the plans of two large beach camps, planned for Boa Esperança and Curral Velho/Lacacão beaches, and the continuation of the protection of Canto and Norte beaches, this season will be extremely challenging, in several ways. To help us, we welcomed the arrival of a new team member, who will join us for the summer as a general assistant. Originally from Fogo island, Euclides (best known as Ukie), and working part-time as a guide for Vista Verde, will be a great asset for the team.
Our first field visit was to Boa Esperança beach. The smell of the dead turtles is gone, only old carapaces seem to prevail from the deadly season of 2009. Looking at this scenery, one can only hope that these carapaces will only represent sad memories, and an inspiration to do a good job this year on this abandoned beach.
On another note, and still in Boa Esperança beach, another sad memory is the plastic bags collected in a beach clean-up campaign organized in July 2009 with over 100 people participating. Promises by the Camara Municipal to pick up this trash the day after the campaign were forgotten. Now, 10 months later, not only the plastic bags are still there, but they are ripped and destroyed, with all their contents littering the beach that was once clean.
This is Boavista.
The beautiful island where dust and “morabezza” fill the air along with empty promises but also hope of better days. And many turtles.
October 8, 2009 - Joana Hancock
Turtle power prevails over military coup
October 3rd. The end of a season. Or nearly. In this day we conducted our last night patrols. Turtles have been coming to nest irregularly, with emergences decreasing notoriously. Volunteers and soldiers showed signs of tiredness, and motivation was running lower, since it was harder and harder to see turtles. Still, while volunteers spirits still stayed high, soldiers, unsatisfied with their sergeant (who had very little authority and interest in them), and accusing internal problems as a group, between themselves and their leader, decided to take matters in their own hands and boycott all the work, in protest against their sergeant. Although they admitted to Turtle Foundation that this was an internal issue, and had nothing to do with our team or our volunteers, or the turtles and the related work, the situation of chaos and anarchy among them led us to make the decision of finishing the season almost 2 weeks earlier, since there were no conditions to run the night patrols. This, added to the fact that we had to move our headquarters from the kindergarden to the local sports centre, which had no living conditions, led to even more tension, and this sad decision had to be made. These were the hardest 5 days in the season, when we could only watch events develop, as we had no authority over the soldiers, so it was very frustrating.
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Moving our headquaters from the kindergarden to the local sports
centre, Photo: Magdalena Swierkowska
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We were all quite disturbed with these events. The previous group of soldiers had been truly inspiring and amazing, and we developed even friendships with them. Most had requested to stay with us until the end of the season, to give follow up to the great work they were doing. Unfortunately, internal military rules made a change of soldiers necessary, and everything changed from then. It was unbelievable how things could change so quickly, and have such a great impact. Our primary concern when we sent the last group of soldiers home, was the killing at the beaches, but we were relieved to see that there were no casualties in the days that followed. Locals showed their support, and welcomed us to set a meeting and discuss how they can help more in the next season. We are excited about sharing our ideas and hearing some of theirs!
On the other hand, we saw this as an opportunity to have more time to plan educational activities, and have since then, engaging in the preparation of several activities with local school kids, town people in Norte area, turtle releases and such. So there is still plenty of work to do, and it will be fun too!! So after the storm, bright sun again.
September 29, 2009 - John Dowling
This story was written by John Dowling on a trip to Boavista in September 2009. Thanks to John for letting us post this. He took wonderful photos as well, and to see the story with photos go to www.boavistaexperience.com and read the wildlife conservation forum post.
It is 7:30 in the evening and everyone is ready to go, the volunteers with their sleeping bags and torches and the Cape Verdean soldiers with their AK47 rifles. Ten of us get on to or into the pick up truck and head for the beaches.
It is already quite dark as we head down the dirt tracks; Christian (who is head of the Turtle Foundation on Boa Vista) is driving, he knows these tracks well but even he has to be careful due to the constant changes made to the tracks by the heavy rain.
We arrive at our first destination, Norte Beach. Here two of the soldiers along with two of the volunteers, Eva and Kasia, get out of the back of the vehicle and head for the tent on the beach. The rest of us continue on towards our final destination on Canto Beach.
We arrive and place our sleeping bags into the tent, Christian, Magda and I, along with one of the soldiers, head to the beach to start the patrol. Harrie and the other soldier lie down and try to get some sleep. The first patrol is from 8pm until 12:30am.
It is now very dark, the only light is from the new moon and the stars but there is a lot of cloud cover, it takes some time for our eyes to become accustomed to the conditions. Christian is coming on this patrol for the first hour or so in order that he can give me a briefing on the turtles.
We start walking west along the beach trying not to stumble over rocks and other debris, the only sound is the non stop crashing of waves from the Atlantic Ocean. There is a very welcome cool breeze blowing off the land towards the ocean, the temperature is still near 30C.
Christian explains the life cycle of the turtles to me. The females tend to return to the beaches where they were born to nest. They can build up to 6 nests in one season; this is probably nature’s way of literally making sure that they do not put all their eggs in one basket. The females wait for the coolest part of the night to come up onto the beaches, once they select a spot they will spend up to 90 minutes to build a nest and lay their eggs before returning to the ocean, it is during this time that they are at the mercy of the poachers. Some of the females will wander all over the beach before finally selecting a nesting spot; others will make several trips in and out of the ocean until they find the right spot.
The eggs hatch after 7-8 weeks and the tiny turtles fight there way back to the ocean where they will be swept up by the currents. Unfortunately there are many predators on land and at sea that are waiting for them. It is estimated that out of every 1000 eggs laid only one turtle will make it to maturity. It takes 35 years for turtles to reach sexual maturity and even Christian admits that where they go to in the vast expanse of the world’s oceans is not fully understood.
We reach the end of the beach and stop to rest for 10 minutes before turning around and heading back down the beach. In the distance we see car headlights, in the still darkness these could be many miles away but as we get near to the end of the beach we see a single light which is moving and heading in our direction. This is unusual because poachers would not carry torches that would give away their positions, however we feel obliged to investigate. Even in the darkness our figures could be made out against the light coloured sand so we move off the beach and into the scrub to wait. The light continues to approach but then stops, Magda the soldier and I give chase, Christian returns to get the car. When Christian catches up to us we have lost sight of the light, whoever it was will have clearly seen the car headlights and will have been alerted to our presence. This could be a diversion to take us away from the beach where the real poachers could be lying in wait so we quickly return to the job of patrolling the beach. Christian retires to the tent for some sleep whilst the rest of us continue to patrol the beach. Time passes surprisingly quickly and it is 12:30am, Magda and the first soldier return to the tent, I decide to stay out and go on the second patrol, I have not yet seen my turtle.
Harrie and the second soldier emerge from the tent and find me on the beach, we start the routine again. We are about half way along the beach when Harrie raises his arm to signal us to stop. About 10 metres away is a dark line in the sand leading from the ocean and at the head of the line is a turtle, probably about 4 foot long, and she is using her flippers to slowly propel herself up the beach. She appears to stop and then turns around and heads back into the ocean. We move closer to see what is happening, there is a washed up tree branch on the beach which she has bumped into, this has caused her to abandon her attempt and return to the ocean. Harrie gets out his log book and makes a note of all the details, the soldier drags his boot through the turtle trail to mark it. We continue to patrol to the end of the beach and stop for a rest, after 10 minutes we head back down the beach, again half way down the beach there is a second trail up the beach but no sign of any turtle. On checking the trail leads up to another obstruction on the beach which has caused the turtle to turn around into the ocean, this is probably the same female we saw earlier. Harrie again gets out his note book and records the details while the soldier crossed the trail. By the time we get to the end of the beach I am feeling very tired, it is now 2am and I have at last seen my turtle so I decide to retire to the tent for some sleep.
I am woken at about 4am by a trashing noise in the tent; the soldier sleeping next me in the tent is hitting a crab, which has entered the tent, with a stick. There are some set backs to sleeping on the beach in a tent, as well as crabs there are acid bugs which when crushed ooze a sticky liquid that causes nasty skin burns. I go back to sleep.
At around 5:30am an excited Harrie enters the tent, the turtle came back again at around 4am and this time she made a nest. Harrie and the soldier waited until the turtle had finished and returned to the safety of the ocean. This is the fulfilment of the purpose of the patrols.
Canto beach in the morning:
We quickly all get up and grab our sleeping bags and mats and return to the pick up. It is now day light and we drive back down the tracks to pick up the soldiers and volunteers from Norte beach. On the way we pass some buildings in the distance which I recognise to be Baia das Gatas, a small community of fishermen and I suspect turtle poachers.
We arrive at Norte beach and are quickly joined by Eva, Kasia and the two soldiers who have been patrolling this beach; they have seen nothing last night. We head back towards Fundo das Figuieras, on the way we pass two young men walking close to the beach and in the distance is a man on a donkey.
Christian stops the vehicle behind a small hill and climbs to the top to see what is going on. Sometimes poachers will hide the meat from a kill and then return to it at a later date. After a few minutes another man comes by on a donkey, we figure that he will tell the other people of our presence so our cover will be blown.
We head for home.
- John Dowling
September 24, 2009 - Adolfo Marco
Letter to Turtle Foundation - Good news from Boavista
Dear friends
We have very good news from Sal Rei. The nesting season of loggerheads in Cape Verde has not yet finished but we (Natura 2000) have analised data recorded until the begining of September and have made some predictions for the season that we want to share with you. The news are really great in Boavista. I hope that this success can be extended to the rest of the islands.
In Boavista in all beaches we estimate for the 2009 nesting season more than 20'000 nests (in the previous years we counted less than 14'000). But especially relevant is the decrease in the number of hunted females although there were many more females nesting this season. We have counted until now approx. 180 and expect no more than 220 (overall) for the end of the season. This means 5 % of nesting females. I remind you that in 2007 approx. 1150 females, i.e. 36 % of nesting females were hunted on Boavista beaches.
We are really happy and want to congratulate all of you for your effort to see these good results. By the end of the year we will send to you a more detail finaled report with data y analysis that we are gathering in Boavista. We also would like to know if some of you are founding similar trends.
2009 is going to be very good for turtle conservation but our job has just started. We should try to even improve these results for next years.
Looking forward your comments.
Best wishes and thanks for your cooperation, help and friendship.
Natura 2000
Adolfo Marco
Estacion Biologica de Doçana, CSIC, Seville, Spain
September 4, 2009 - Joana Hancock
"WAR GAMES"
Its been an extremely busy season. Many reasons have led us to be quiet for several weeks, really too busy to contact with the outside world.
Work has been hard. Just a few days after our last post, the patrol found in Canto Beach, at 11p.m., a turtle whose flippers had just been cut off while she was returning to the sea. The turtle was still alive, and in obvious agony. Both soldiers and volunteers, extremely distressed with the situation, considered performing euthanasia, however unsuccessfully, and it took the turtle several hours to die. Moral was lower than never in our camps. Our team of volunteers and soldiers, usually chatty and happy, were quiet for several days, accumulation anger and developing strategies to end this slaughtering. Poaching documented in Canto (a 3Km beach) has been generally low, but poachers have their own strategies, and keep an eye on us at all times, controlling our patrol times, and movements. One of the strategies used is to "steal" the turtles on their return to the water, once they reach the low-tide area of the beach, so that we do not suspect of any poaching activity, as their footprints will be washed away by the incoming tide. Also concerned with the situation, and in appreciation of our work, several locals have been providing us information about the poachers activities, and we are regularly informed that up to 6 turtles get slaughtered every night in the unprotected beaches between Canto, Norte and Porto Ferreira. Members of Natura 2000, another organization, give accounts of poaching being on the rise on their beaches. As Turtle Foundation members, and working with the military, we feel the urge to do immediate action, but still it is impossible to get to all the places with the amount of people we work with. Undercover missions are developed in a regular basis, strategies are developed, still it does not seem enough, we are becoming tired and frustrated sometimes. Not everything is good in Boavista, time is running out for these turtles!!!
The influence of our work in the beaches where we work however is obvious. Sometimes, on the negative side. With the arrival of the rainy season, we have been prevented to reach our beaches on several occasions. Poachers have been taking this opportunity, and 3 turtles were killed in Norte beach last week. This shows that the turtles do not stand a chance when we are not on the beach, but when we are, they are protected.
Generally, our figures show that in the beaches that we directly protect, mortality has been kept under 5%, which has been extremely encouraging!
On the other hand, poachers are moving on to other, non-protected beaches as alternative, where in Boa Esperança and Varandinha the amount of turtles killed here is heartbreaking. The smell of dead turtles invades our bodies and souls as soon as we enter the beach. Two young men reportedly killed 14 turtles in 2 days on Boa Esperança beach, the beach that we intended to protect this year, but couldn't for unavailable funds. We are desperately trying to secure funds for next season, before it is too late for the turtles of this beach.
Motivation comes directly from our numbers, and locals. A lot of local people have approached us during the season, saying that we've been doing a great job. A young doctor, that lives in João Galego, in the North where we work, said that the impact of Turtle Foundation has been enormous. In his account, just two years ago anyone would go to the beaches and kill turtles, and several hundred were taken each season from our now protected beaches, and openly sold door by door. Now, since we've been in the area, although there is consumption and sale, this is much lower and considered as a high risk activity (poaching).
The will is here, motivating goes up and down, but at the end, the future of Cape Verdian's turtles is in their hands. It’s a challenge.
August 1st, 2009 - Joana Hancock
SWEET AND SOUR
The past two weeks have been a roller-coaster of emotions, that went from deep sadness and frustration, to our first arrest! After recording a maximum mortality rate of 5% at one of our most complicated beaches, Lacacão for the last month, we had a nasty surprise when we found evidence of up to 9 turtles being taken from our least problematic beach, Curral Velho, in just two days. The poachers, knowing our limitations in covering effectively the full 4.5Km of beach, due to our limited number of people, took advantage of the situation and captured the turtles at the far end of the beach. Refusing to ignore this situation, our project coordinator, Christian Roder, Julio Rocha and two other members of the military set up a trap the following day, and managed to intercept the poachers, however, due to lack of evidence, had to let them go, to add to our frustration.
Nevertheless, the next night, soldiers patrolling the Lacacão beach saw some suspicious activity during their night patrol, and to their surprise, found a group of people poaching a nest! They managed to arrest one of the people, and this person is now awaiting for his sentence. We look forward to know if something will actually be done, as this would be a major step in law enforcement in Boavista. The situation is getting out of hand, as we also recorded, during this week, two more turtles killed in Canto beach. This is probably related to the religious festivities planned for the local communities this upcoming weekend. We hope that with some carefully planned patrols, we can reduce this threat during this season, and catch some more people in action, before it is too late.
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| Boa Esperança Beach, Boavista |
Not all are bad news! We finally did our first night patrol in Boa Esperança (see picture above), where so far, at least 18 turtles have been slaughtered... this was the first of hopefuly many more patrols. We are blessed that many volunteers are joining our team in August, the peak month, so we will be able to increase the cover and protection of beaches such as Boa Esperança, and maybe Varandinha, on the east coast.
Also, last sunday, with the help of the local tour operators, we organized a major clean-up event in Boa Esperança beach, where at least 500m stretch of beach were left spotless, and were probably cleaned for the first time ever, judging from the amount of bags collected! This was a success, as lots of locals showed up, in an estimate of about 50-75 participants. It was a great day!
So, there are always things to lift up our moral!!! A sour beginning to the week, a sweet taste of good work done by the end :-)
July 8, 2009 - Joana Hancock
Its been two weeks since we started the season, and things keep rolling here! We’re getting more turtles everynight in our beaches, which means more fun patrols, but also much more responsibility! We’ve been very pleased with our soldiers and volunteers, as they have been working extra hard to cover as much as possible our nesting beaches. This week we had our first encounters with “apanhadores”, which resulted in the targeted turtles to be fully protected, but not all are good news. The killing of the nesting females has started, and despite our efforts, we have reported some killings in all of our beaches. As expected, our most problematic area, with two turtles being killed, are Lacacão beach, where a construction site is hosting at least 500 workers, plus a few hundred more illegal people who are waiting for a chance to work there. Its a real miracle that only two turtles have been reported killed, because of the amount of people living there, and also the impact of the light form the site, that is causing disorientation of the nesting turtles, causing disruption to their natural behaviour, resulting in more time spent on the beach looking for the right place to nest. We urgently need more people to help us patrol this beach, and we are interviewing some locals for the job, but we need to find a way to fund these positions.
One of the possibilities is ecotourism. Talks have been underway with tour guides and companies to set up ecotourism in the nesting beaches, but a lot of paperwork is required, delaying the legalization process. In a way this is good, as we can regulate the beach visitation and behaviour guidelines, and in this case, we are working with the local environment protection agency and another NGO to set the procedures and standards for this activity, in order to minimize the impact of tourism on the turtles and their habitats. We have been providing basic training to local guides, and we hope that in the near future ecotourism will be a good alternative to young local people in the region.
Lots of work, but motivation is high, as usual!!!
June 26, 2009 - Joana Hancock
Its official, our team has recorded the first protected nest and female of the season! The season has had a smooth start so far. Our teams are up and running, protecting so far two beaches: Norte (5.1Km) and Canto (1.9Km). On Saturday the 20th, our first group of 10 soldiers arrived in Sal Rei, representing islands such as Santiago, Brava, Santo Antão, Sal and Boavista. A few days later, we welcomed our first international volunteer, Astrid, and just two days ago, Mathias. Both are German, and will be staying for at least a month.
Training of our first of soldiers and volunteers has been intense, but nevertheless rewarding, since so far we haven't recorded one single slaughtered female in our beaches! Training has included theory lesson, and several day and night visits to the nesting beaches. at the end of the training we finally set up the first two turtle camps, one in Canto beach, the other one in "Norte" beach.
Within just a few days from the beginning of the monitoring, our team has recorded 3 nests in Norte beach, 2 nests in Canto beach, 1 in Lacacão and 6 in Curral Velho. The lack of slaughtered females has been extremely encouraging, especially at the last 2 beaches, since there are great concerns about the presence of over 100 workers staying and working at the construction site of the new RIU mega hotel in Lacacão beach.
This upcoming week, we will be setting our third turtle camp, this time in Lacacão, while plans are underway to start monitoring the beach of Boa Esperança as soon as possible.
April 16, 2009: Turtle Foundation supported by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Turtle Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Wildlife Without Borders program for their generous contribution to support our Cape Verde conservation and protection program for Loggerhead sea turtles.
It is with great pleasure that we announce the receipt of a grant of $45,000 under the Marine Turtle Conservation Act administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. As part of the Multinational Species Conservation Fund, the Marine Turtle Conservation Act supports projects that contribute to sustainable, effective conservation of endangered sea turtles. This grant will go to fund the formation and implementation of the Cape Verde Sea Turtle Observatory, a coalition of NGO's, research institutions, and Cape Verde government authorities working together to protect Cape Verde's sea turtles and habitats.
We are proud to be associated with and supported by this program.
10 October 2008 – Christian Roder
The Loggerhead nesting season 2008 on Boavista is over and the final group of soldiers has left the island on September 30th. Therefore our patrol work has ended at this point for this season. One could think that it’s getting quieter now, but there is still a lot to do, even without the active protection work at the beaches. Our work during off-season consists of informing the population of Boavista about our protection work, biology and behaviour of sea turtles as well as the importance of protecting them… and of course about how they can contribute in protecting these animals.
Our children’s painting competition regarding the protection of sea turtles was a full success at all schools of Boavista. Now, together with some of the teachers, we have to determine the winners of this competition. At the end of the month we will organize an information event where we will announce the winners and distribute the prizes. We will be supported by the chairman of the local environmental club (Club Ambiental), who is living in our neighbourhood and with whom we have a lively interaction.
29 September 2008 – Christian Roder
Towards the end of our patrol work of this year’s nesting season we had Nuno Lureiro accompanying us. He is a professor from Portugal conducting a sea turtle protection camp in Praia Baixo on the main island “Santiago”. There, he tags sea turtles and takes blood samples for genetic tests. He had taken all his equipment to Boavista and so we got the opportunity to learn these techniques as well.
First the sea turtle is being measured by a specific method (length, width). Then it gets a metal tag on both front flippers, if the turtle is not already tagged ...
... Afterwards a blood sample is taken from the turtle’s neck. We realized how strong Loggerheads are when several men tried to keep the turtle under control during this procedure.
As it had been raining heavily the week before, the time at the beach was everything else but comfortable: mosquitoes have had perfect conditions to proliferate copiously, so it was possible to get a couple of hundred bites a night. Nuno had no doubt about it: those who take blood have to give blood, too…
6 September 2008 – Norbert Hausen
Today it’s Saturday – which means for us tighter beach controls again. As usual, we are taking the soldiers to the beaches and get ready for a long night. Instead of accompanying our soldiers on their patrols, we drive back to Fundo and from there we continue to Cabeca de Tarafes. A very bumpy path then takes us all the way to the lighthouse upon the Mora Negro. From up here we have a fantastic view on a 6 km stretch of beach, from Pointa de Roque all the way to Porto Ferreira.
As our soldiers are equipped with wireless radios, we can communicate with them. Light signals are going to show us their position. We now try to spot “suspicious” lights, which might appear along the beach, ready to lead our soldiers into this direction. A few hours later we head back on the bumpy road, without having detected anyone suspicious.
30 August 2008 - Norbert Hausen
Flooded
Thinking of an arid, desert-like island with vast dunes, one wouldn’t think of what we have experienced during the last few days: heavy rainfalls flooding the area including pathways and roads.
It has been raining for four days already flooding the road to Fundo das Figueiras, where our soldiers are based at. We haven’t been able to conduct our patrols for two days because there was no way we could get to the beaches.
Yesterday though, we gave it another try. As it had stopped raining during the afternoon, we have succeeded in getting all the way to Fundo das Figueiras. We took the first group of soldiers to Canto and on our way back we got into an incredible storm! “…hurry up, hurry up – otherwise the road near Rabil is going to be flooded again….” everyone in the car shouted unanimously. We got almost stuck in the mud and the road had turned into a torrent. The water was splashing all around us and visibility was so poor, we could hardly see anything at all. Luckily we just made it in time to pass the critical spot. It has been raining all night long. Today we have no chance to cross the passage. Our soldiers have to cater for themselves again because there is no way for us to bring them their food.
27 August 2008 – Christian Roder
A Portuguese organization is active on BoaVista this week. They offer a variety of environmental education activities to the kids of Sal Rei and vicinity - the sea turtles of Cape Verde getting special attention within their program. The team leaders together with the children painted beautiful sea turtles on one of the walls in the village centre. They also added sea turtle conservation slogans to the paintings.
During an event at the stadium the children performed turtle dances as well as turtle songs, telling stories about the sea turtle’s lives as well as man-made threats facing them. In agreement with the organization we grabbed the opportunity to present our sea turtle posters as well as our children’s painting competition in favour of the protection of sea turtles.
The kids obviously liked the event a lot. We can only hope that this generation will not be fond of killing sea turtles, no, instead they might be fond of standing up for the protection of these magnificent animals.
23 August 2008 – Christian Roder
This shift we have a group of soldiers, who have been here in June already, at the very beginning of our beach patrols. This means they are well experienced in patrolling the beaches and don’t need any training anymore. Yesterday Miguel and I plus two of the soldiers were on our way on the northern stretch of Porto Ferreira beach.
After about 1.5 km all of a sudden this smell was in the air again…just a whiff of it, hardly noticeable, but unmistakable. The wind carries the smell of dead turtle into our noses. We will never forget this odour after having found ten butchered turtles at the very beginning of our work here on BoaVista. We split our group into two: one is checking the dunes and the other one continues to watch the beach. Just a bit later we find the dead sea turtle – obviously slaughtered only a few days ago.
We examine the carcass and search for footprints. In fact we find some foot prints leading us into the dunes. Again we split our group: one follows the footprints, the other one keeps watching the beach – both keeping in touch via radio contact. Walking along the beach, we can watch several sea turtles laying their eggs into the sand. After they have finished nesting, we check if they are tagged; this information helps us to understand more about their migration patterns.
After a while we hear from Miguel that they have found some sort of hiding place from the poachers in the dunes. We continue our patrol and meet the others again on our way back. Then they show us the poacher’s hide-out. There we find stacked plastic bags and containers, presumably to transport turtle meat. Besides that we discover turtle remains as well as donkey’s footprints.
We destroy the transport containers and try to memorize this place as good as possible … That’s all we can do at the moment. During our future patrols though, we will pay special attention to this specific spot.
21 August 2008 - Reisa La Torra
We are thrilled to announce that we have received a Disney Rapid Response Fund grant in the amount of $5,000 to help us mobilize our beach protection project for nesting Loggerhead turtles in Cape Verde, West Africa. We are very grateful to Disney for helping to support our project.
Here is a picture of Denise Neves, a local teacher on Boavista, talking with our lead biologist Christian Roder. Our program works with schoolchildren to educate them about sea turtle biology and conservation.
Notice the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund t-shirt Denise is wearing!
18 August 2008 - Norbert Hausen
Cachupa Taxi
We start our day having our breakfast on the roof-deck of our house. That’s the only meal of the day we can enjoy unhurriedly (if there is no unforeseen event coming up). At about 10 am we start making preparations for the day: running errands, checking e-mails, there is always something to do. At 12:30 pm we pick up lunch at Bia’s for the soldiers. Bia is running a little restaurant in Sal Rei together with her husband and offered us to prepare the meals for our soldiers, who are doing the beach-patrols for us. Today they get Cachupa, the Cape Verdean national dish. Cachupa is a stew consisting of corn, beans, fish and meat. We scoop portions from the big pot into smaller closable plastic bowls, which can be transported more easily. The distance between Sal Rei and Fundo is 30 km, the roads made out of cobblestone. The sun is shining and we are boiling in the car… After 45 minutes driving we arrive at our base camp and hand over the hot meals to the soldiers. After a short chat with them we head back to Sal Rei in order get everything ready for the nocturnal night patrols.
8 August 2008 - Christian Roder
Last weekend we got the opportunity to appear before the public with our children’s painting competition. Kalle Paltzer, an acquainted artist from Cologne has created 8 different postcards. 4 of them illustrate threats to sea turtles in the water, 4 others display our activities in order to save sea turtles. For that purpose we also distribute coloured pencils to the children.
At short notice we found out about a big environmental exhibition at Cape Verde’s Capital Praia – a great opportunity to test our painting competition at the sea turtle stand. This kind of competition could become a big success because the kids were very enthusiastic about it! Even Cape Verde’s president, Pedro Pires, appeared at our stand in order to see, what it was that made the children so happy: a great opportunity to hand one of our colouring sets over to him!
26 July 2008 - Norbert Hausen
It’s weekend again. For us this means to be even more alert on our beach patrols, because during weekends usually more turtles are being killed. We take the first group of soldiers to the beach of Porto Ferreira and move on with the second group to Canto. Instead of having 4 people patrolling this beach, as we usually do, we decide to have only 2 of the soldiers to watch over this area today. This gives us the advantage of being a larger group and thus we continue our journey to a hard to access beach, south-east of the island. The ride to “Pointe da Roque” is very exhausting and it’s extremely hard to find the right path. Without having reconnoitred the area earlier today and without our GPS it would probably not have been possible to find our way.
Shortly before we get to the beach, we discover fresh donkey footprints in the sand. We ask ourselves if they originate from a wild or a domesticated animal, maybe with its rider on its back…. Within the idyllically located beach we actually find a donkey tied up on a rock; saddlery and transport bags laying next to it. There is no doubt anymore that there is a poacher around trying to find turtles in order to kill them. We decide that 2 people stay right there watching the donkey and our car, the other 4 people go search the beach. Shortly after we find 2 turtles being turned on their backs – probably not long ago. We immediately turn them back over and accompany them walking back into the ocean. Sure enough the poacher must have noticed us and most probably hides somewhere behind the dunes.
Although we comb through the area for hours, we can’t spy him out. We take pictures of the donkey and the saddlery and head back with mixed feelings. At around 3:30 h in the mornig we get back to our headquarters and hit the sack tired to death.
10 July 2008 - Norbert Hausen
After a visit to our colleagues of Natura 2000 (a Spanish conservation organization) at the Ervatao Beach we pick up the soldiers at Fundo das Figueiras where they are accomodated. From there we head straight to "our" protection zone: the beaches of Canto and Porto Ferreira. Tonight we decide to do the first patrol towards the South. After 860 meters (we use GPS) a soldier notices a turtle that is just about to land on the beach. We immediately lay down in the sand so that the turtle does not get disturbed and frigthened. Thanks to clear skies and strong moonlight we do not need our torches to watch this spectacle. When the turtle started to dig the nest
we walk on as there were no signs of any danger (hunters). During our patrol we see again and again fresh turtle tracks coming from the sea and luckily leading back to the Ocean again. These turtles have obviously survived their dangerous trip to the land.
After 2 km we pass again at the beach of „Nho Martin“. This is where last Saturday we discovered the remains of about 15-20 turtles that were slaughtered on this spot about 10-14 days ago. We analyse the tracks and come to the conclusion that no additional turtles were killed here since. On our way back we come across yet another "Tartaruga" returning to the sea. A little later we can see the tracks of the first turtle that we saw nesting this night leading back to the Atlantic. Yet another night at the East coast of Boa Vista with no turtle killings.
7 July 2008 - Norbert Hausen
Like every day we leave Sal Rei at 5pm to Fundo in order to meet the soldiers and discuss the plan for the night. Today the Turtle Foundation staff decided to join the team that will go to the Southern part of Porto Ferreira. At 8pm we leave the tent in Porto towards Nho Martin, a well known nesting beach at the East coast of Boa Vista. After 400 meters we find the first turtle nesting. We radioed to our colleagues in the tent and told them that they should keep an eye on the turtle. Then we continued. About 1.2 km from there we found another turtle. There were no signs of any turtle hunters in the area. So we left the animal alone and continued our march.
A couple of hundred meters further on all of a sudden we smelled a terrible stench. At first we thought that it was garbage that is spread all over the beaches. When we came closer however, we made a gruesome discovery: we were in the middle of a "turtle butchery". Most of the animals were obviously slaughtered extremely brutally about 7 to 10 days ago. The remains of the animals were in the process of rotting already. In the middle of all these turtle corpses: two turtles building their nest. What a surrealistic sight! Despite the stench that was hardly bearable we decided to stay there until the two turtles had laid their eggs and returned to the sea safely. When we finished our patrol that night we all had mixed feelings indeed.
5 July 2008 - Christian Roder
Hello – Bom Dia!!!!
We are thrilled to report some more good news. During our patrol of last night (Norbert, Fatou, two soldiers and me) in the Northern part of Porto Ferreira we had quite some action. In total we encountered five sea turtles in just four hours. We came across one turtle that was already turned on its back by turtle hunters. Luckily, it was still alive and unhurt. The hunters were not far away (we saw lights from a vehicle at some distance). They obviously planned to take the turtle with them instead of slaughtering it on spot. We turned the frightened and helpless animal around on its belly and followed it on its way back to the sea.
| Just a few feet away we discovered yet another Tartaruga (sea turtle in Portugese), which was busy laying eggs. As we knew that the turtle hunters were nearby we stayed with the turtle and guarded it until it finished its business. What an incredible experience! |
(c) Harald Mielke
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27 June 2008 - Norbert Hausen
At 10am we left Sal Rei in the rented four-wheel-drive towards Fundo das Figueras. After a drive of 45 minutes on cobblestone streets we arrived at Fundo where we could evaluate the progress made in relation to the preparation of the house which will serve as outpost and accommodation for the soldiers. Currently the water tank on the roof is being cleaned and sealed. We made final arrangements with the local cook who shall take care of the meals for the soldiers. Thereafter we continued towards Pointa de Roque. In order to become more familiar with the terrain and the rather difficult road conditions we drove ourselves. 
The “street” to Roque consists of dirt roads, rocky and bumpy areas as well as sand dunes. No way to get there without a 4x4 vehicle. If it wasn’t for our mobile GPS programmed beforehand we are not sure if we were able to find the beach at Pointa de Roque at all.
At first sight it is a beautiful long sandy beach. But as soon as we take a closer look we become aware that it is rather a turtle cemetery, just like so many other beaches on Cape Verde.
After a short break we headed back to Fundo and further on to the most Northerly part of our zone: Baia de Gatas. Nothing but a few huts occupied by fishermen waiting for their next “shift”. Behind one of these huts we made a gruesome discovery: the remains of two recently slaughtered sea turtles in the process of putrefaction were dumped in ditch full of debris. The smell is unbearable. A quick picture and off we are.
Another negative highlight of our trip: a short visit to a beach called “Canto”. This beach is dotted with turtle carapaces – silent reminders of last year’s slaughtering.
This is a clearly a hotspot for our patrolling activities.