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Four green turtles were captured in Bay
Blanche at Tintamare - then released - as part
of the SeaTag operation on June 14-16, 2015.
The goal of this project, financed by Europe, the
Region of Guadeloupe, DEAL, Biome funds, and
the EDF Foundation, is to increase knowledge
about the green turtles in the Guadeloupe archi-
pelago. Éric Delcroix, in charge of this project
for the Réserve Naturelle of Petite-Terre, partici-
pated along with Antoine Chabrolle, who is res-
ponsible for marine turtles at the ONCFS, as well
as Océane Beaufort and Caroline Cestor-Magro,
from the association Kap Natirel. The four green
turtles in question were captured near their fee-
ding grounds and were not in a reproductive
phase. They were measured and banded, while
two of them were equipped with sophisticated Ar-
gos tags. This allows the turtles to be followed by
satellite, recording not only their movement and
the zones they visit, but also the number of dives
they make, plus the length and depth of the dives.
This information is permanently available online at
seaturtle.org, by entering the name of the animal
in the field «animal finder.» The scientific office at
the Réserve Naturelle is interested in any and all
photos of Sasha and Joe – easily recognizable
thanks to their red beacons. Please send pho-
tos to
science@rnsm.org.Please make sure not
to harass these turtles and especially do not da-
mage the beacon and its antenna attached to their
backs, so that they can continue to teach us about
their daily habits over the next seven months.
L’amélioration
des
connaissances
sur les espaces
et les espèces
protégées
Better
Knowledge
About
Protected Areas
And Protected
Species
Le Journal de la
Réserve Naturelle
Nationale de
Saint-Martin N°24
Novembre 2015
7
Sasha and Joe followed
from outer space
Green turtle equipped with a beacon and an antenna © Julien Chalifour
The thirty eco-volunteers who participated in the annual
project to count turtle nests met on the beach in Long
Bay for a nocturnal field trip on August 26 from 8:30pm to
12:30am. They were able to observe three green turtles,
but two of them rapidly returned to the sea. The third had
started to dig a nest, before changing its mind and heading
back to the water. The eco-volunteers for this area counted
80 traces of turtles in Long Bay in August 2015 and 39 in
July. The season for nesting and egg-laying runs from March
to November, and it is critical not to bother the animals
during this period.