The Fascinating Turtle Watch in Sao Tome and Principe

One of the thrills of visiting the incredibly special islands of Sao Tome and Principe is the opportunity to watch the nesting and hatching of some of the world's endangered species of turtles.

Sea turtles have been nesting in these islands for centuries, making them important conservation sites for endangered species. Between November and March each year, five endangered species– The Olive Ridley, Green, Hawksbill, Loggerhead and Leatherback, emerge from the ocean and purposefully navigate their way under cover of darkness to some of the undisturbed beaches of Sao Tome and Principe. Their single purpose is to lay lots of eggs.

Thousands of female turtles throng these moonlit beaches, batch after batch. But their journey from their foraging grounds deep inside the ocean to the nesting sites is fraught with uncertainties and perils. They brave thousands of kilometers of rough, polluted seas and avoid predators and fishing nets. They drag their heavy, bloated bodies across the sands and find safe spots to dig in to unload their eggs before they head back to the sea.

Photo: Programa Tato

These beautiful turtles instinctively remember to return to the same beach many times to lay eggs each season between October and February. This indicates that the turtles find these breeding grounds most congenial, with no litter and bright lights to disorient them. It is important for the turtles to nest in desolate beaches where there is no human habitation and presence of animals like dogs or pigs that can dip up the eggs. With a hatching success rate of 90% for the turtles, and a meagre 1% survival rate, every egg counts.

There are several beaches in Sao Tome like the Praia, Jale eco resort, Mucumbli, Porte Alegre and Morro Peixe that have been perfect hatching spots for the turtles over the years. The exotic beaches of Principe Island like the Bom Bom, Sundy Beach, Belo Monte etc, provide a safer haven.

In recent years, due to mindless urban encroachments, undisturbed beaches are becoming rare. Despite a national ban of sand mining activities on beaches, sand continues to be extracted from the turtle nesting beaches, causing the disappearance of several nesting beaches.

In the 1990s, almost every sea turtle found at the beach or sea was killed for its meat or shell or eggs in São Tomé and Príncipe. At sea, adult sea turtles were indiscriminately captured using hooks, harpoons, and gillnets set in front of the main nesting beaches. Fresh or salted turtle meat was until recently, part of certain traditional menus in São Tomé and Príncipe, and the shell was very often used in the preparation of these dishes, for traditional medicinal or as an aphrodisiac.

However, several international and local NGOs and conservation groups have become proactive in the protection of these important breeding grounds. Many local fishermen have been engaged as beach rangers to protect the turtles, instead of fishing them. They carefully remove the eggs from their nesting sites to protective hatcheries, where they are not only protected but research is conducted to assess if the hatching success is better compared to when the nests are left in their original sites.

Several eco tours and turtle watching trips are organized for small groups of people, to observe the migration of the turtles to their hatching beaches.

The sea rangers or eco guards educate the tourists about the sea turtles and their life cycles. To ensure that the turtles are not disturbed, the rangers impose strict guidelines for the tourists to follow.

For example, with the permission of the ranger, only two tourists may approach a turtle nest at a time. This is possible only after the nest is made and eggs are laid, but strictly, not before. This is because the turtle goes into a meditative kind of state when it lays the eggs, a process which lasts a few hours. Any disturbance at that time will adversely affect the process.

Praia Inhame Ecolodge, Porto Alegre, Sao Tome South

Tourists are deterred from carrying torch lights or use camera flash. After the eggs are laid, the rangers carefully approach the turtles to tag them. They also collect the eggs to measure them before they are transferred to a protective hatchery.

As more and more turtles descend on the beaches, the rangers count them and look for those tagged earlier. This gives an estimate of how many turtles are repeat visitors and is also an indication of how congenial the beaches are as nesting grounds.

It is a magical experience to share the same beach with thousands of these great female turtles, as they silently lay countless eggs, all at the same time.

Tourists are encouraged to carry a bag and pick up any litter they find on the beach. A portion of the money earned through eco-tourism goes towards the upkeep of the beaches and conservation efforts.

Many tourists return to Sao Tome and Principe in March to witness the hatching of the young one and their mad scramble across the beach, racing to catch their first whiff of the salty water.

The increase in tourism in Sao Tome and Principe, has accrued benefits, but also thrown up some environmental challenges, such as sand excavation for construction increase, increase in disturbance and human encroachment near nesting sites.