San Juan – Leatherback turtles, the largest migratory sea turtles on the planet and in danger of extinction, begin to lay their first eggs in Puerto Rico, where Volunteer patrols strive to protect the nests from storm surges and humans.
After making a migratory journey from the north of the Atlantic Ocean, The Esther leatherback, 1.5 meters long, was the first to arrive in San Juan to spawn on March 20to Ocean Park beach.
The turtle took around three hours to complete this process and, since then, it has nested three times, with an average of 80 eggs in each nest, around which the non-profit organization 7 Keels established a fence so that they are not damaged. By humans.
“When you enter The nesting turtle can lay between 100 to 110 eggs on average.among them are the fertilized and the unfertilized, which are what we call false,” Rosa Ceballos, nurse and patrol coordinator for 7 Fins Grupo Tortuguero San Juan.
Leatherback females return to the place where they were born to lay the eggs of their young during the season that runs from March to July. and they usually choose the beaches on the northern coast of the Caribbean island for spawning, given that the larger waves make it easier for them to access the sand and subsequently return to the sea.
Ceballos details that the same leatherback turtle, which has been included since 1970 on the list of endangered species, nests an average of 8 to 11 times every two years and lays its eggs several times in the same season to take advantage of its long migratory journey.
(Esther Alaejos)
A “crucial” task to safeguard the species
The organization “7 Quillas”, which was created in 2014 and whose name refers to the seven longitudinal white lines that the leatherback has on its shell, He tours the beaches to inform the population in order to protect the turtles and their hatchlings.
Hilda Benítez, 62 years old, founder and executive director of Grupo Tortuguero de San Juan 7 quillas, composed of 25 volunteers, indicates that the organization's work is “crucial” to safeguard the speciessince sometimes they have to relocate endangered nests.
Both they and others 13 turtle groups from Puerto Ricothey take turns patrolling the beaches during the nesting season, take care of the turtle, locate the nest in safe places and help the hatchlings reach the sea.
The director of the organization reports that between 55 and 60 days after spawning, the eggs hatch and it takes three days for the little turtles to come to the surface.
According to the data of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DRNA)in the last nesting season a record was broken in the number of leatherback nests on the beaches of the metropolitan area of San Juan, with a total of 34.
Plastics and untreated water threaten leatherbacks
7 quillas, which coordinates its work with the DRNA, denounces that The discharge of untreated water on beaches can damage turtle nests and the reefs that are responsible for reducing storm surges..
“All the sedimentation, all the pollution, whatever the bags, whatever the cigarette butt, everything flows into the sea and that damages the reef, which is what stops 90% of the energy of the incoming waves,” Benítez asserts.
Residents of buildings adjacent to Puerto Rico beaches and Puerto Rican authorities They have modified the lights, from white to red, to prevent the turtles from becoming disoriented and can easily see the white foam of the waves.
Ceballos explains that in these ways they give “clues” to the neonates in tourist sites where there is light pollution so that they can reach the sea and thus continue the cycle that allows the survival of this threatened species and protected by various local and international laws.