Cayman
Turtle Conservation and Education Centre celebrated World Sea Turtle
Day this week with two releases of a total of ten young Green sea
turtles. These are known as ‘Head Started’ turtles, because they have
been hatched and raised within the safety of the Centre for at least the
first, most vulnerable year of their life. One release of five turtles
took place on Tuesday 16 June, and the other release, also of five
turtles, was on Thursday 18 June. The second release was attended by His
Excellency the Governor, Mr. Martyn Roper, who expressed his delight at
seeing the turtles begin their new lives in the wild.

“It’s
a real pleasure to be here this morning. I’ve been in Cayman now over
18 months and I’ve been a big supporter of the Turtle Centre.  It’s such
an incredible part of Cayman’s rich history and culture, and I am
excited to be here today to see these turtles being released,” Mr. Roper
said.

Cayman
Turtle Centre CEO Tim Adam said: “This is part of our ongoing programme
with over 32,000 turtles released into the wild. As you have probably
heard me say before, we now have scientific evidence based on a study
under the auspices of the UK’s Darwin Plus initiative, led by the
Department of Environment with the University of Barcelona and
University of Exeter, that shows that at least 90 percent of the
returning nesting turtles in Cayman are related to those that have been
released from the Centre, resulting in a steady increase in the number
of sea turtles in the wild around the Cayman Islands.”

Mr.
Geddes Hislop, the Centre’s Curator of Terrestrial Exhibits and
Education Programmes was pleased to answer the Governor’s questions.

“As
soon as the turtle hits the water, it is under Department of
Environment jurisdiction, and he or she is going to join the rest of the
wild population out there, and become part of our natural and cultural
heritage,” Mr. Hislop explained.

“That’s
Amazing” Mr. Roper said, as “Martyn”, the released turtle named in his
honour, disappeared into the waves to begin its new life in the world’s
oceans.

Four more turtles, named ‘Jenny,’ ‘Storm,’ ‘Playa,’ and ‘Current,’ were released, one after the other. 

‘Head-starting’
is a scientifically proven way of boosting this endangered species’
wild populations because they have already grown to a size and strength
big and powerful enough to avoid most predators, whereas when they first
emerge as tiny hatchlings in the wild they easily fall prey to a wide
variety of fishes and sea birds, and even crabs on the beach before they
reach the water. 

“We
know the release programme works, because over more than 50 years into
it now, we know that the released turtles do come back to Cayman to
nest. We know that they are successful, and they are breeding out there,
and we know that at least 90 percent of all breeding turtles in Cayman
can be directly traced back to our programme. The females that come up
on the beach to lay their eggs are either ones that have been directly
released by us, or they are offspring of ones that have been directly
released by us.” Mr. Hislop explained.

This
year, even with the necessary precautions surrounding COVID-19 in place
the Cayman Turtle Conservation and Education Centre’s Animal Care Team
is still hard at work, and its vital conservation programmes, from
turtle releases to releases of endangered birds, are all still on-track.
Although the public were unable to attend this week’s releases in
person, they were streamed live and are still available to view on the Cayman Turtle Centre’s Facebook page.

The
Centre’s Animal Care Team has been continuously caring for its
11,000-plus animals since the Centre closed to the public in Mid-March
due to COVID-19 restrictions. Members of the public are invited to get
involved in the Centre’s conservation efforts by adopting a turtle,
becoming a member or sponsoring a turtle release on the dedicated
website at www.caymanturtles.ky.

“Together
with the excellent conservation programmes operated by the Department
of Environment, so that there is a collaboration between the two
institutions, to make sure that our national symbol is always here for
future generations to see: that is the mission of the Cayman Turtle
Centre.  We want to make sure our cultural heritage and natural heritage
stays alive. All the contributions we receive through our new dedicated
website go towards research, conservation releases like this, and
research also gives us more information to make better decisions to help
manage these animals,” Mr. Hislop said. 

Mr. Roper wrote on his Facebook page later that morning: “Nice
to …support Cayman Turtle Centre with a turtle release this morning.
The Turtle Centre plays an important conservation role and it was
exciting to see 3-year-old turtles being released into the sea. Well
done to Tim Adam and colleagues for all that you are doing in
challenging times.”