Under the spell of a Sea Turtle

A SOLUTION TO THE THE SEA TURTLE DILEMMA

Turtles are not happy on boat decks...

This is called "By catch". Sea Turtles are not spared. Most countries of the world, including French Polynesia, have laws requiring trawlers with drag nets to have "sea turtle escape hatches" incorporated into their nets.(Called "TEDs", Turtle Excluder Devices). In theory, these TEDs work, allowing larger creatures an escape route.

The problem is that often times they simply don't work very well or many boats may not even have them for fear they will "lose fish" for the fishing boat. This is bad news for the turtles, as they become victims of the fishing industry's bycatch.

French Polynesian Sea Turtle

Sea Turtles are not fish. They don't have gills. They are reptiles with lungs and require surface air to survive. This means they typically drown in the nets. If they do make it to the surface having not drowned, they are often seen as an additional source of income for the boat. They can be sold to the locals for food, (illegally, but nobody enforces the laws), or sold to many blackmarket jewelry makers for their valuable shells. Either way, most sea turtles who are netted and brought aboard a commercial fishing vessel don't have a bright future...

This is where Leo and the Hibiscus Sea Turtle Preserve come in. Leo, the founder, (and seemingly natural born trrtle lover) has developed a simple, yet creative solution to the sea turtles problems: He simply offers the fisherman more money for their captured turtles than they can get from the locals or the blackmarket jewelry makers. It's a matter of economics...

Turtleman Leo handles a friend

 He then takes the rescued sea turtles back to the preserve to an outdoor enclosure to make sure they're healthy and then releases them back into the wild when enough of them are collected. "Sponsors" are sought after to help with the financial reality of the situation. Sponsors are people who donate what they can to support the operation, and as a reward, get to experience "a release". They are taken away on a chartered boat from the lagoon into open waters with their "sponsored" sea turtle, and get to release it and see it swim away into the wild blue yonder. Quite an emotional moment for any animal lover...

Elated Sponsor

The more turtles that are rescued in this manner help spread the word among the local fisherman that there is an alternative, and that it's an economically positive one at that! Many of the local fisherman who chance upon sea turtles now will contact Leo and the Hibiscus Sea Turtle Preserve with their turtles- looking for money and also feeling good about doing the right thing for the environment.

Go Leo.

 You can witness this whole operation and become involved in Sea Turtle protection programs by visiting the preserve and hotel on the lovely Island of Tahaa, French Polynesia.
      
The HIBISCUS HOTEL offers mid range accomodations on the shores of the Haamene bay lagoon of Tahaa. With a marina, dock, full service restaurant and bar, and of course the Turtle Preserve, the Hibiscus Hotel makes for a very interesting place to visit.

P.O. Box 184, Haamene Bay- TAHAA, French Polynesia, Telephone- (689) 65.61.06, Fax- (689) 65.65.65