Those disturbing photos have been making the rounds again on social media. Photos of people who could easily be your neighbours, work colleagues or even close relatives, sometimes posing with plastic cups or cigarettes, sometimes with other friends milling around nearby, everyone in beach attire–and one person or more can be seen sitting or standing on the back of a leatherback turtle.
After 20 years of turtle conservation by such community groups as the Grande Riviere Nature Tour Guides Association, Nature Seekers, Fishing Pond Turtle Conservation Group and SOS Tobago, local conservationists are disheartened that these scenes continue to occur. Some community groups have said that it was good that these online photos are often besieged by comments condemning the practice, but it was distressing that in 2015 there are still people who have not yet gotten the message about the national effort to protect endangered turtle species.
Camille Salandy, head of sustainability and corporate communications at LNG production company Atlantic, a key corporate sponsor of local turtle conservation efforts, said while she hoped the photos were just old ones being recycled, it was possible that new pictures had emerged for the 2015 season.
Sitting on turtles can
crush their bones
"People have to understand that sitting on a leatherback turtle causes structural damage to the animal and should never be done and never be condoned," Salandy said. "Contrary to how they look, leatherback turtle shells are not hard, and are not designed to support weight when the turtles are on land. The weight of a human adult would crush the bones in the turtle's back. It's actually the equivalent of sitting on an infant's chest or ribs, and even more damaging for turtles."
Atlantic works closely with the Turtle Village Trust (TVT), the NGO established in 2006 to support the partnerships between corporate sponsors such as Atlantic and the various turtle conservation groups. Working with its partners, TVT helps to monitor, research and protect local sea turtle populations, and also helps to develop the ecotourism potential in the seaside communities where the turtles nest every year.
Kathryn Audroing, research manager of the TVT's National Sea Turtle Conservation Project, explained the turtles' physiology and how the turtles are affected when people sit on them.
"Essentially, the upper shell or carapace of the turtle is actually their ribs, fused together," Audroing said. "These ribs protect underlying organs, tissues and muscles, just like how in the human body our ribs protect our heart and lungs and other organs. In the case of the leatherback turtle, since it doesn't have hard plates but instead has a leathery rubbery skin over its ridges, and a lot of small, thin bones under that skin, the damage caused by great weight upon the carapace can be very severe and life-threatening."
Audroing added: "Applying pressure can cause the turtles to have great difficulty in breathing as their lungs can be squeezed by the person's weight upon them. People sometimes don't realise that turtles are air-breathing; they think the turtles are really good at holding their breath until they go back into the sea. But it's not like that: turtles breathe air. Also, their bones aren't heavily calcified because when they dive, their bones need to be able to contract under the pressure of the water.
Their bones therefore are structured to be thin and light. Sitting on top of the turtles might cause their feeble rib bones to break and pierce the tissue underneath. It's not easy to detect the damage to the turtle caused by just a small child sitting on the turtle much less when an adult does it, so it's always best not to put any weight at all upon them."
Heartless to have fun at the
expense of nesting mothers
Dennis Sammy, managing director of Nature Seekers, the turtle conservation volunteer group based in Matura, explained that the turtles were at their most vulnerable when they came to shore to lay eggs.
"During their time onshore, the turtles are focused on constructing their nests, which is tiring work," Sammy said. "When they are on land, turtles are slow-moving and awkward, and not able to flee or defend themselves. It is downright heartless for people to have fun at the expense of the turtle and the nesting process. Whether they know it or not, people who sit on turtles are contributing to the extinction of a species. They are undoing years of hard work in helping to stabilise the local sea turtle population."
Len Peters, chairman of the Grande Riviere Nature Tour Guides Association, said due to greater co-ordination and organisation by the community conservation groups over the years, people sitting on turtles has become a much rarer practice.
"There are strict laws protecting the turtles, and people can be charged for interfering with an endangered species; it is an offence under the law," Peters said. "For example, you need a licence from the Forestry Division to come out on any of the prohibited turtle beaches.
You also need to be accompanied at all times on the nesting sites by authorised guides. Some of the conservation groups have been able to set up patrols that make regular rounds of the beaches, making sure that we don't have people abusing the turtles. But there is still work to be done to build public awareness, so that everyone supports the work of the turtle conservation groups."
New initiative to protect
green and hawksbill turtles
To continue enhancing national turtle conservation efforts, a new initiative was launched this year in the Grande Riviere community. Fully sponsored by Atlantic, the Head Start Programme in Grande Riviere aims to increase the survival rates of green and hawksbill turtles.
Under the programme, volunteers of the Grande Riviere Nature Tour Guide Association manage a turtle hatchery that is set up in the community. Atlantic and the Turtle Village Trust provide support and research assistance.
The hatchery helps to protect small hard-shell turtle species whose nests are destroyed when the larger leatherbacks come on shore to nest during the annual turtle season. Eggs laid by green and hawksbill turtles are relocated to a safe, incubated environment within the hatchery, and after a "head start" period of 9-12 months, the hatchlings are reintroduced into the sea, their natural environment.
"We really need the public to understand the importance of the turtles to the marine environment and also to the life of the communities where they come to nest," Salandy said. "We urge people to obey the rules posted at the turtle beaches and to respect the turtles. They have a right to life too."