- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 10/Jul 07:07

Beginning on the beach

On her journey to monitoring and conserving coral reefs, Dr Anjani Ganase works with a sea turtle study in Tobago, and visits Grande Riviere to see the nesting leatherback turtles. Life for a marine biologist begins on a beach. One big reason I turned to studying the ocean were the bugs. Endless biting insects – sandflies and mosquitoes – enjoyed my sweet blood on every visit to the bush or the beach. Even worse, I would swell up like a jelly bean wherever I got stung. As an adult, I have learned to be prepared as I still seek out nature on hikes and chasing waterfalls. Last weekend I covered up for an extra special visit to Grande Riviere, the most densely populated leatherback turtle nesting beach on the island, and some say, the world. The first time I was taken to see leatherback turtles, it was with my parents on Matura Beach. I was still in primary school. My parents were reporting for the Guardian at the time, covering a story about the use of satellite tracking devices to observe the turtle movements after they left our shores. I remember a dark beach and having to trek with a mass of people to witness the minister and a marine scientist attaching the device to a lone nesting turtle. I remember bright lights that should not have been allowed but it was done for the sake of media, and a crowd encircling the turtle. It was not an enjoyable experience for a child. By the end of the night, I was miserable, and I felt like one giant sandfly bite. [caption id="attachment_1165567" align="alignnone" width="453"] Dr Anjani Ganase and her colleagues record the size of a juvenile hawksbill turtle at Mt Irvine Reef, Tobago before releasing it. -[/caption] I never thought of returning until I finished my undergraduate degree in marine biology. My first job was tagging hard shell sea turtles – hawksbill and green turtles – that resided on coral reefs of Tobago, a project lead by Dr Michelle Cazabon-Mannette for Turtle Village Trust. This job involved diving on coral reefs around Tobago. As orientation, Michelle brought me to Grande Riviere for a night to gain some insight into marine turtle conservation efforts. This time it was different, there was serenity in the darkness below the starry night sky of Grande Riviere, and the beach was bustling with turtles coming ashore to lay. Witnessing these giant turtles crawling out of the sea and up the shore, you realise how massive these creatures are – up to seven feet length – and the effort of dragging their body weight – up to 1,000 pounds – across the sand. I got the crash course in understanding their movements on the beach, and how we should move to avoid disturbing their ritual. We let our eyes adjust to the darkness and only used the red lights when necessary to make notes and avoiding their faces. Conservation at Grande Riviere The leatherback turtles navigate across oceans to arrive at our shores for nesting. During the nesting season between March and September, the females come to shore to lay eggs on several occasions. When they arrive at Grande Riviere, it is very likely that they are welcomed by beach patrollers ready to measure her size, check for tags or put a new tag if this is her first time she is encountered. The tag allows her to be identified whenever she returns to the beach. The presence of patrols serves as a deterrent for any poaching activities. The patrolling and monitoring pave the way for education. Educational tours conducted at the beginning of the night build the conservation effort through eco-tourism. [caption id="attachment_1165569" align="alignnone" width="576"] A leatherback turtle hatchling sprints to the ocean. - Anjani Ganase[/caption] Since this experience, I have returned to Grande Riviere whenever I was home during my student summer holidays. One summer, we camped for a night under the trees near to the visitors’ centre. The next summer – to my surprise – camping was no longer allowed, so I slept in the car in the parking lot with my visiting friends after our night time tour. It rained buckets that night, I kept having to wind up the windows and turn on the AC in intervals so we didn’t overheat. No matter the sleeping arrangements, the second half of the mission was to walk the beach in the early morning to see the turtles by day or witness hatchlings making their way the sea. Leatherback lore The experience goes beyond seeing these large marine animals. You marvel at their story, their journeying from distant oceans to nest on beaches where they were born. It is also a story that teaches the realities of nature, knowing that the odds of the hatchlings surviving are small, and knowing that our activities make a small chance even smaller. We must appreciate the dedication of the patrollers and the guides, people who don’t sleep for months committed to the conservation of leatherbacks. It is a dedication that I can only dream about when it comes to coral conservation. There are many challenges but as new technology and new science come to light, we see that the culture of leatherback turtle conservation has come a long way progressing slowly but surely into the future. We admire and commend the passing of knowledge from the researchers to the patrollers to the guides and the visitors. This community sharing is essential and should be upheld, as the information goes out far beyond this little beach. The balance between conservation and tourism should always be checked as it is a fine line between eco-tourism and exploitation. This includes the unnecessary interaction with nesting turtles or the incorrect handling and housing of hatchlings that can be stressful since they need every ounce of energy for their first ocean swim. [caption id="attachment_1165568" align="alignnone" width="576"] Turtle eggs exposed by river outflow. - Anjani Ganase[/caption] For my most recent visit, I stayed at the Hadco Experiences Mt Plaisir Hotel, which was vastly different from camping in the backseat of a car. It is heartening to see tourism and conservation align, the beach front cleared of chairs by 6 pm, minimal lighting along the beach front and where necessary, small red lights work. Heavy blinds are pulled down in the rooms and restaurant to block all light. Even the pool light is red. The effort is seen in the community as well, where house lights facing the beach have been switched to red and even a couple of the street lights exposed to the beach are also red. This night, two nesting turtles were already ashore close to the western end of the beach. At the information centre, the guides briefed us on our safety and the safety of the turtles, and off we went. To get to the turtles, instead of tramping through uneven sand in the dark, we went along the road, cutting through a backyard to enter the beach. On the beach, all unnecessary lights – even red lights – were turned off. Let your eyes adjust to the moonlight. The guide would tell us when to turn on the red lights; and the number of red lights at a time was regulated. You stand in a semi-circle behind the turtle, while the guide tells us her story. I can see silhouettes of other turtles crawling out of the surf in the distance. It is a lot to manage between the moving turtles and the restless children, keeping cell phones from lighting up. In every group there are rule breakers, but the guides manage. They continue to patrol for the night, after the guests are escorted back. The last leatherback on the beach At night, the darkness blankets the view of endless turtles along this little beach just one kilometre. In the early morning, once the patrols have ended at 6 am, I see one straggler turtle covering her nest as the sun rises. I arm myself with long pants and repellent and join the other families and sleepy children on the beach. We are still following the guidelines from the night before: watch respectfully from a distance, do not touch. She does her circle dance to cover the nest. Then the last turtle makes her way back to the ocean.   The post Beginning on the beach appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.