Sea Turtle Recovery Action Plan for Barbados - WIDECAST

CEP Technical Report No. 12
Page 40
- BRI should continue to provide technical support and training for beach surveys.
- The BRI should establish and monitor a beach hatchery if it becomes necessary.
- The BRI should undertake projects to obtain further information on foraging and
nesting habitats around Barbados, and to determine whether Barbados shares common sea turtle
stocks with other islands.
4.623 Barbados Environmental Association (BEA)
The Barbados Environmental Association (BEA) has played an important role in the
conservation of sea turtles by providing volunteers to survey all the beaches in Barbados for
nesting activity over the last two years. The BEA has also been very active in the distribution of
public awareness materials concerning sea turtles and other aspects of the environment.
Recommendations
- The BEA should repeat their monitoring of all beaches in Barbados annually during the
nesting season. This is essential in order to obtain quantitative data on temporal and spatial
differences in nesting frequency island-wide.
- The BEA should start a new beach monitoring programme in collaboration with Bellairs
Research Institute, whereby members of the BEA are encouraged to monitor nearby beaches on a
daily basis.
- The BEA should continue to make Sea Turtle leaflets and their poster display on the
Turtle Walks available to hotels, schools, and exhibitions.
4.624 Barbados Wildlife Reserve
The Barbados Wildlife Reserve restored and now operates a sea turtle "holding pool" at
Sam Lord's Castle Hotel. The pool contains six turtles (juvenile hawksbills and green turtles and
an adult loggerhead turtle).
Recommendations
- The Turtle Pool should contain young juvenile sea turtles only. Young turtles are easier
to feed and care for, and are relatively less valuable to wild populations than adults and
near-adults. Adults currently held captive should be tagged and released back into the sea.
- Water quality and temperature in the Pool should be routinely monitored.
Consideration should be given to planting trees to create shade so that water temperature is
maintained at approximately 27-28 o C even when the water level is low. More rock outcrops
suitable for turtles to take refuge under are recommended.