The Barbados
Sea Turtle Project (BSTP)
The Barbados Sea Turtle Project (BSTP) was started in 1987
to promote conservation of sea turtles in Barbados. It is a joint activity of
the Department of Biological and Chemical Sciences at the University of the West
Indies, Cave Hill Campus and the Fisheries Division of the Government of Barbados.
The BSTP relies upon the co-operation of the general public, particularly hotel
staff and guests, and other persons living and working near the beach, to monitor
nesting and hatching activity during the turtle season (April – December).
Activities undertaken to conserve Barbados’ Sea
Turtle populations by BSTP personnel include the following:
-
24
hour response to public reports of hawksbill and leatherback turtle nesting
and hatching;
-
Nightly surveillance of index beaches
to closely monitor nesting and hatching activities, and to deter potential
poaching attempts of nesting females and their eggs;
-
Tagging and monitoring of hawksbill and
green sea turtles in near shore waters through assistance from dive enthusiasts’
dive shop operators and commercial charter boats;
-
Satellites-tracking of post-nesting hawksbills
from Barbados to their foraging grounds elsewhere in the region;
-
Monitoring of the debilitating disease,
(fibropapillomatosis), in green turtles.
Project personnel are also actively involved
in conducting extensive public education programmes on sea turtles and
promoting increased awareness about sea turtle conservation in Barbados.
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