Kralendijk – 30 December 2019 – Now that 2019 is coming to an end, Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire (STCB) would like to extend their gratitude and appreciation for all of the hard work and dedication provided by their volunteers and supporters. Without them, STCB would not have been able to conduct all of their conservation activities this year, including the in-water surveys, nest patrols and capture-mark-recapture efforts in Lac Bay.

A big shout out to STCB’s volunteers! In 2019, more than 50 volunteers regularly participated in STCB’s activities. From January to April, volunteers helped conduct 144 in-water surveys to count sea turtles along the west coast and around Klein Bonaire. Between May and December, volunteer Beachkeepers patrolled the beaches most used by nesting sea turtles to record new activities and to monitor the safety of almost 90 nests. In June, October and November, volunteers participated in net-capture surveys in Lac Bay and helped capture, weigh, measure and tag 88 green and three hawksbill turtles. Lastly, a large group of volunteers helped collect fishing line at the North and South Pier during Fishing Line Clean-Up Dives organized by STCB.

In addition to its volunteers, STCB would also like to extend a big thank you to all their supporters, including the companies, families and individuals that adopted 45 sea turtle nests, thereby saving more than 3,900 baby turtles!

STCB would also like to thank VIP Diving, Harbour Village, Mangrove Center, Dive Friends Bonaire Retail, Dive Inn, Delfins and Courtyard by Marriott for selling STCB’s merchandise and donating their retail services, so that 100% of the profits go directly to sea turtle conservation. Thank you!

Another highlight of this year was the publication of an article in a scientific journal. For this article, 16 years of transect-count and net-capture monitoring data was analyzed to get a better insight in yearly abundance trends for green and hawksbill turtles foraging along the west coast, around Klein Bonaire and in Lac Bay. The paper can be found here.

STCB is excited for 2020! The organization is planning on publishing another scientific paper, this time on nesting trends. STCB is also aiming to explore the east coast of Bonaire and to conduct surveys in this area with their new boat ‘Thalassa’; and to deploy another satellite transmitter, sponsored by ContourGlobal. And all of this would once again not be possible without the generous support of STCB’s passionate volunteers and sponsors! Masha danki!