Turtle Atlas Updated

An intern at the Réserve from January 5 to June 15, 2015, Marine Nouhaud is a 22 year-old master’s degree student in “Ecology and Dynamics Of Coastlines and Estuaries” at the University of La Rochelle. Her task was to update the atlas illustrating the sites in Saint Martin where sea turtles lay their eggs. Created six years ago by Pauline Malterre, who was at the time the scientific director at the Réserve, and Éric Delcroix, director of sea turtle coordination in Guadeloupe, this atlas synthesizes the current condition of all the beaches frequented by these turtles during their egg-laying period, on the entire French side of the island. On the beaches included in this atlas, Nouhaud has noted all of the changes that have taken place since 2009, primarily concerning the state of the vegetation development on the beaches. She will make recommendations necessary to improve conditions for the turtles. For example, planting sea grapes along the edge of the beaches, as the Réserve has already done on Pinel and at Grandes Cayes. At the same time, she is participating in the monitoring of sea turtles with a team of 60 eco-volunteers who are charged with surveying the beaches twice per week in order to record traces of turtles that have dug their nests in the sand.