Little Cayman Turtle Project

Historical Overview

From Columbus's discovery of the Cayman Islands in 1503 to the late 1700s marine turtles were found in abundance in Cayman's waters and nesting on its beaches. The valuable source of fresh meat brought seafarers of all types: from pirates to great sea captains. Realizing this economic potential, settlers in the mid 1600s came to capture and sell turtles to passing vessels, thus starting the local turtle industry.

Cayman Emblem The historically abundant marine turtle population withstood the intensive fishing pressure for over a hundred years. Around the late seventeen to early eighteen hundreds the local turtle stock collapsed. The Caymanian turtlers sailed first to Cuba then to the Miskito Cays, off the Nicaraguan coast, to continue their trade. Turtling remained the leading industry in the islands until the late 1960's when it was replaced by tourism. The historic socioeconomic importance of marine turtles in the Cayman Islands is recognized in the national emblem, flag and currency.

Introduction

Even though the large populations of marine turtles can no longer be found in the Cayman Islands a remnant of this population still exists. Little scientific research has been done to assess the wild stocks of marine turtles utilizing Cayman waters and beaches. The Little Cayman Turtle Project was initiated with the aim to assess and clarify, for the first time, the status of marine turtles nesting on the beaches and inhabiting the coastal waters of Little Cayman. This initiative was undertaken by staff from the Cayman Islands Department of Environment, local volunteers in collaboration with the Marine Turtle Research Group, thanks to support from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Results

Planning and Training

The phases and course of the Little Cayman Turtle Project have been developed in close collaboration with Drs. Brendan Godley and Annette Broderick of the UK-based Marine Turtle Research Group. Dr. Godley and Dr. Broderick spent approximately 3 weeks (May 11^th - May 29^th 1998) in the Cayman Islands assisting with the planning and implementation of the project. During the initial phases, 12 Department of Environment staff received extensive training in many aspects of turtle research and assessment. The Department of Environment staff has gone on to train local Marine Park Officers and volunteers, all of whom assisted in the research conducted in Little Cayman.

Marine Turtle Nesting Activity

An extensive beach survey was conducted to locate and quantify all marine turtle nesting activity on Little Cayman. Preliminary investigation of Little Cayman's 37 km coastline, 21 km contained suitable beach for marine turtle nesting . During the 1998 reproductive season in Little Cayman 38 marine turtle emergence events were observed leading to estimate of estimated 6 green turtles (Chelonia mydas), 1 hawksbill turtle (Eretmolchelys imbricata) and 1 loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) nesting.

Threats

Threats to marine turtle nesting activity include poaching of adult females and eggs, and hatchling predation by feral cats, ghost crabs (Ocypode quadrata), magnificent frigatebirds (Fregata magnificens), and numerous coral reef fish species. Coastal development is currently limited to a few private homes and small commerical beach developements. However, plans to build a small to medium size resort on a potential marine turtle nesting beach on the north coast of Little Cayman does exist.

Diving Hawksbill Preliminary Boat and Snorkel Surveys

Three different types of preliminary boat and snorkel surveys were conducted to find an efficient and accurate means for assessing marine turtle in-water distribution and abundance. These data are currently undergoing analysis.

Public Reporting Survey

The goal of the public reporting survey was to increase the general publics' awareness of Cayman's marine turtle population and utilize the vast source of volunteer divers to provide useful qualitative information to the research team. One hundred and seventy-five marine turtle observations were reported from May to November of 1998.

More information:

A report is available summarising the work of the 1998 season and the work has since been continued and expanded in scope. For additional information, please look us up at www.bcbmedia.com/turtles or contact:

Catherine Bell
Cayman Islands Turtle Project Coordinator
Department of Environment
P.O. Box 486GT
Cayman Islands
Catherine.Bell@gov.ky