Testimonies
Read about the effects of pirate fishing on local fishermen on Ascension Island.

More Illustrated Webcasts

More on the Green Turtles of Ascension
Find out more about the research project.

Onboard Stories
Teeny turtles and school kids

ENDANGERED GREEN TURTLES: Wednesday, 26th April 2000 Click on the turtle image to launch the webcast

The day dawned on Ascension Island as we arrived with the sunrise. Like St. Helena, it is volcanic with clearly visible peaks, cones and craters, although there have been no eruptions for over 150 years. Otherwise the island bears little resemblance with its closest neighbour. The volcanoes slope down to an abundance of sandy beaches, which are one of the last undisturbed nesting grounds of green turtles.

Green turtles are classified as endangered and are protected under local and international law. While they are found nesting on many tropical and subtropical beaches around the world, the ones that come to nest on Ascension are the largest of their species at between 1.5 and 1.75 metres in length and weighing up to 250kg.

It is estimated that each year, 3000-5000 female green turtles migrate an incredible 2000 kilometres from Brazil to lay their eggs on Ascension. An individual turtle will make the journey once every 3-4 years. We are all hoping for a chance to go on shore and catch some of the last female turtles of this year's nesting season, laying their eggs. Hopefully we will find out if this is possible, when the "Turtle Woman" comes on board this evening.

"Turtle Woman" Fiona is studying the turtles as part of a two year post doctoral research programme with the University of Swansea. On the MV Greenpeace, she explains that she and a colleague, are looking into the body condition of the female turtle, how the turtles manage to navigate such a vast distance to Ascension (thought to be through a combination of smell and magnetic orientation) and whether there is multiple paternity within clutches.

And yes, a group of us can go onshore later in the evening to see some of the last of the female turtles (of this nesting season), laying their eggs! At 20:30, the first inflatable load of turtle watchers sets off for the island's jetty through the black and choppy night waters.

Once on shore, I met Fiona and her colleague Rob who have arrived in their jeep and set off ahead of us. Amazingly, the beach for which we were headed is to the left of the pier and Georgetown, immediately opposite the anchoring place for visiting vessels.

It's a dark, warm and windy night as we walk along the road leading to the beach, with no moon to light our way. Nevertheless we manage to stumble upon Fiona again and she advises that she and Rob will walk along the beach to look for a turtle that has already begun to lay her eggs. This is so that we do not disturb any turtles that have not yet begun to lay and which might otherwise be frightened off. And so we wait patiently in the dark. Rob returns after a while to tell us that they have found two turtles at the far end of the beach, so we set off down the road which runs along behind the beach, talking in hushed voices to the crunch of our footsteps and the intermittent sound of crickets on the night air. Once there, we wait again for a time until it is certain that the turtles are laying and we will not disturb them. Fiona gives the word, we take off our shoes and walk barefooted onto the beach, with instructions to be very quiet and not to use torches.

The shell sand is a coarse texture underfoot and pitted with deep craters where females have already laid their eggs - it's quite an interesting experience trying to navigate these in the dark. The sound of the waves crashing on the beach gradually grows louder. And before we know it, we can just make out the shape of a very large turtle.

This female has dug a large pit in which to nest and now lies virtually motionless, except for the occasional sweep of her hind flippers to cover her eggs. We couldn't actually see the eggs, but apparently these are ping-pong sized and she will lay around 120 of them at a time, returning as many as 10 times in a season, at 10-17 day intervals. Fiona tells me that if I get close enough, I may be able to hear the sound of her breathing.

At first I am rather hesitant, not wishing to disturb this ancient character, but after a time, yes, I can hear a very deep, almost regal breathing, rather like a massive sigh.

Fiona tells us that the numbers of green and loggerhead turtles in the Med are very low. Last year she participated in a turtle protection programme in Northern Cyprus and there were only 7 green nests on the most important beach that summer (compared to the thousands on Ascension island). Although the number of nests varies each year and can be expected to fluctuate, this is obviously very low and is due to the destruction of turtle habitats, pollution and heavy incidental catch of turtles in the Mediterranean and generally on tuna longlines. Fiona mentioned that the number of turtles nesting this year on Ascension was also lower than last year, but could not be certain as to the reason for this and whether this was a natural drop in the numbers, or for other reasons.

We can also just make out two more turtles in the dark. Through the image intensifying night sight which Fiona and Rob have brought along, we can see that one is busy digging herself a pit and getting ready to lay, while the third is just moving up the beach, a very slow and cumbersome process for this massive creature.

Unfortunately only Jeremy and Gavin see some turtles hatching: with special permission, they were able to stay on the beach until two in the morning to film the turtles, while the rest of us return to the ship by 23:00. However, I am hoping to see some tomorrow: a few of us will return to the beach at about six in the morning.

More on Turtles:
Unversity of Swansea Site on Turtle Research
Read the full interview with Fiona the researcher