Birth of Sea Turtles at Kélonia

Monday the 22nd November 2011, 57 baby turtles hatched on the artificial beach at Kélonia.

These turtles emerged from nest n°2 and the eggs were laid in August on a beach in St Leu by a green turtle (Chelonia mydas) named Gaby by the team at Kélonia.

This nest, threatened by the heavy swells of early September was moved to the artificial beach at Kélonia. This action certainly saved the eggs. In fact, the eggs in the first nest (No. 1) laid by Gaby higher up the beach, were lost, as it had been flooded by the same heavy swells in September.

The baby turtles were measured, weighed and photo-identified. This photo-identification, using the scale profiles of the left and right sides of the head will enable the identification of those turtles that survive and return to the waters of Reunion. It will be in 4-6 years at the earliest than for those who come to feed on the reefs and in 20 years or more for those who return to breed.

The hatchling turtles were returned to the beach where they would have been born on Tuesday 23rd November at 06:00h (time of hatching), with the exception of the most fragile (Poorly healed umbilicus, shell deformation). During their time on the beach, they are impregnated with odours and other physico-chemical parameters that will allow them to return to this same beach when they reach sexual maturity in about 20 years.

During the first days, they use their remaining yolk sac reserves for frantically swimming as far away as possible from the island and their predators, more numerous around the coast than in the open sea. They will travel some tens of kilometres and then relax, drift with the currents and begin to feed on plankton.

The breeding population of Réunion, or all of the Mascarene Islands, remains a critically endangered population.
Réunion, like all of the Mascarene Islands, was an extremely important nesting site before the arrival of early settlers. The testimony of the early navigators shows that turtles were breeding in large numbers on all the beaches of the island. After three centuries of human occupation, the turtles have all but disappeared from the beaches of the island. Blame it on overfishing, nest predation by rats, dogs and pigs, and urbanization of the coast.

Since 2004, five years after the first operation to restore nesting beaches conducted by Kélonia of St Leu, egg laying has been observed. 85% of egg laying takes place on, or near, the restored beaches of St Leu. Evidence that conservation measures can be effective, even in a limited area such as the coast Reunion. However, with an average of only one female per year (average since 2004) the breeding population of Reunion is extremely small and, therefore, extremely vulnerable.

The situation is even more critical in the other islands of the Mascarene group; which have not yet started a program to restore nesting beaches.

Photo-identification of the hatchlings

The average weight of the young
turtles is 25g.



Each turtle is measured

Great joy for the Kélonia team,
translocation of the nest
was successful.

An antiseptic bath before being
released on the beach

Kaena, wounded turtle

One Saturday morning, the lifeguard at Boucan Canot discovered a motionless, young green turtle in the lagoon. When he approached the animal he found that it was lifeless. A phone call brought a team from Kelonia who confirmed the death of the turtle and noted that it presented with no external injuries. An autopsy was performed at Kelonia to try to discover the cause of death, and a photo database search was undertaken to see if the turtle had been previously observed. It was identified as "Kaena" a young green turtle that had previously been photographed by a diver, who had then "sponsored" it, in January 2010.

The autopsy revealed a large haematoma on the left side of the turtle, probably caused by a collision with a vessel travelling at high speed (boat or jet ski), which led to its death. The stomach of the turtle was full of red algae, further confirmation of its violent death.

This incident reminds us that collisions with boats, or injuries caused by propellers, are the second most prevalent cause of death amongst turtles in the sea around Réunion.
It is, however, a cause of death that could easily be avoided if people were to remember that the ocean is full of life. Reducing speed near the coast and continuously keeping a look out avoids collisions with turtles.

Turtles, like marine mammals, must surface regularly in order to breathe. They also enjoy basking on the surface. They are, therefore, vulnerable to being hit by craft travelling at high speed. .

Sea turtles are a protected a species, listed on the Red List of the IUCN, even if their population has shown signs of growth in recent years - it is still very low and nothing compared to what it was before the arrival of people to the island.

With the growth of water sports on Réunion, everyone must appreciate that the conservation of sea turtles concerns us all.

Kaena (right profil)

Kaena (left profil)

Elisée

Alerted by the life-guard post at Boucan-Canot, the care center team recovered a male green turtle washed up on the beach. He was found to have several deep cuts in the carapace, one of them particularly, serious. These injuries had been caused by a boat propeller. Fortunately, the spinal column had not been affected.

The veterinary visits made it possible to remove a large quantity of sand that had accumulated in the deepest cut and pieces of necrosed carapace and to consolidate the back side of the carapace. Elisée receives daily disinfectant treatment. After one month of anti-biotic treatment his wounds are beginning to fill in and scarify. It will nevertheless, be necessary to wait several months before total healing of the carapace, but the turtle also has a flotation defect that makes it impossible for him to dive.

Parvati

Thanks to a partnership with fishermen, more and more loggerhead sea turtles who have been victim to accidental capture are brought to the care center.  Parvati, a 24 kilo loggerhead turtle is one of them.  On arrival June 5^th, Parvati was bleeding from the beck and an emergency operation was programmed. 

The haemorrhage was the result of the fishing hook perforating the left lung.  The operation enabled the veterinary team to stop the bleeding and remove the hook.  Parvati will be kept in convalescence at the care center before being released at sea with an Argos transmitter which will enable us to follow its movements and its diving behaviour.   

Green turtle hatchlings

Thanks to the sighting of a green turtle hatchling on its way back to the sea at the Cap Lahoussaye beach, a nest of green turtles was uncovered. Examination of the nest revealed 112 eggs, 8 not yet hatched, 53 fully developed embryos dead, 27 turtles recovered inside of the nest, 18 hatchlings naturally joined the sea. The six hatchlings found alive in a sand column were release on the beach.

and carapace malformations. They were brought to the Kelonia care center. After 48 hours, a dozen babies had died. After several weeks of anti-biotic treatment and disinfecting, the surviving turtles had been cured of their lesions and the malformations had disappeared. Five turtles have already been released into nature. The others will be kept in basins until the beginning of the summer.


  Grow curve

Radiography.

Remains of a fish net

On 4 November 2006 two turtles were enmeshed in a deep sea fishing net at 21 09’376”S, 55 10’81E. Both were alive. One was released but the smaller green turtle was weak and injured and brought to Kelonia for treatment. Fortunately its injuries proved to be minor and it soon took food and it was kept until its scars healed, its weight returned to normal and it was released.

Young Green Turtle

november 2006

Plastic Debris

On 14 August 2006 a turtle floating on the sea surface was sighted by a fisherman from Etang Sale. It was in a weakened condition and its carapace was damaged. The fisherman notified the Reunion Aquarium which in turn notified the staff of Kelonia who collected the turtle. The injuries to the carapace and plastron proved to be old and the animal would not feed. It was put on a regime of antibiotics and fed manually with a vitamin rich meal. Regrettably the turtle continued to weaken and it died on 3 December. An autopsy revealed 260 grams of plastic waste in the stomach.

october 2006