~ On Guana Bay Beach late Friday afternoon ~
GUANA BAY--St. Maarten Nature Foundation was alerted to the fifth recorded nesting leatherback sea turtle of the 2011 nesting season on Friday at approximately 4:00pm.
The six-foot-long approximately-400-pound female crawled up on Guana Bay Beach at approximately 4:00pm and returned to the ocean an hour and 40 minutes later. Several onlookers witnessed what has been called one of the most unique events in nature occurring right here in St. Maarten.
Nature Foundation staff took several measurements of the animal, recorded nest location and took identification pictures of the nesting female. Recorded data will be entered in Nature Foundation's Sea Turtle Research Programme database and the nest will be monitored on a daily basis. The eggs are expected to hatch within a few months.
Nature Foundation reminded the public that based on articles 16 and 17 of the Nature Conservation Ordinance St. Maarten, it is illegal to kill, wound, capture, pick up, possess or disturb sea turtles and their nests. It is also forbidden to disturb, damage or destroy a nest, or to pick up or destroy the eggs of animals belonging to a protected species.
Nature Foundation requests that motorists do not drive on the nesting beaches and that dogs are walked on leashes. To report any activity regarding sea turtles, call Nature Foundation's Sea Turtle Hotline 9229, call the Nature Foundation office at 544-4267 or e-mail the foundation at
info@naturerfoundationsxm.org .
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