The discovery of a turtle nest earlier this month, the last of the 2012 nesting season, at the Grand View apartments on Grand Cayman’s Seven Mile Beach, has delighted staff at the Cayman Turtle Farm because the nesting turtle was one that had been bred and then released by the Farm back in 1987.

Walter Mustin,Ph. D., Chief Research Officer, confirms he speaks for the entire Farm when he says this event underscores the success of the Farm’s tagging programme.

“Since 1968 we have released over 31,000 turtles into the wild and to date around 60 female sea turtles that we originally bred at the Cayman Turtle Farm have returned to lay their eggs on Cayman’s shores over the years.” he explains.

“Of the 31,000 releases to the wild, over 24,000 were tagged. Nearly 4,500 were given “living tags”, a technique pioneered by Professor John Hendrickson and Lupe Hendrickson of the University of Arizona.”

Dr Mustin continues, “This discovery in early January has been of significant importance because yet another “living tagged” female demonstrates that turtles released by the Cayman Turtle Farm are continuing their life cycle by successfully nesting on  Cayman’s beaches. It is always particularly heartening when one of our own turtles returns home to breed.”

The Cayman Turtle Farm maintains a ‘Headstarting’ turtle release programme. Geddes Hislop, Cayman Turtle Farm Curator, Terrestrial Exhibits & Education Programmes Mr Hislop explains the process: “Each year we select 10 to 12 juvenile turtles (six to eight months old) for the programme. They undergo rigorous health checks and acclimatisation sessions before being electronically tagged and then released into the wild at around 12 to 14 months old, at which time they are mature enough for wild release.”

Mr Hislop explained the turtle nesting process. First a female turtle lays its eggs on a nesting beach. Six weeks to two months later the hatchling makes its way to the surface of the sand and then heads off to the water. Hatchlings can spend up to ten years in the ocean before returning to the coast as juveniles foraging for food and slowly maturing.

“It is estimated in the wild that it takes a turtle between 20 and 30 years to reach sexual maturity and once they do, they migrate to nesting areas to breed. Females come ashore to lay their eggs frequently to the same spot at which they were born, although this is not always the case. Our tagged turtles may well begin nesting in other locations apart from Grand Cayman,” he says.

 

It is believed that the late discovery and slow hatching of these particular eggs, which were laid mid October, happened because of a drop in temperature at the end of last year.

 

“While it takes an average of 60 days for an egg to hatch,” Dr Mustin adds, “the cool weather at the end of 2012 played a part in slowing the process down, hence this later than usual discovery.”

Although no live turtles were found in the nest, about 30 hatched eggs and 70 un-hatched eggs were discovered by Department  of Environment’s  research officer Janice Blumenthal and colleague Paul Chin.

“It really is a great start to the year,” Mr Hislop comments. “Seeing the results of our Headstarting programme takes many years of patient waiting, so this recent find is a testament to the programme’s ultimate success.”