The 2022 nesting season was longer than expected!
The 2022 sea turtle nesting season has officially ended. The season began on May 1st when Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire (STCB) staff and volunteers started their patrols on Klein Bonaire, Te Amo Beach, Donkey Beach, and beaches in the south.
Loggerheads are usually the first to lay their nests on our beaches, followed by green and hawksbill turtles. The season started with the first recorded nest on May 20th, a loggerhead nest. However, once the nest hatched, they realized it was a hawksbill nest with 128 empty shells and two little hatchlings that needed some help getting out of the nest.
A few days ago, the last nest of the season was excavated, and it was also a hawkbill nest. It was located in the southern part of Bonaire, with a total of 93 hatchlings entering the ocean! The last nest would have typically hatched earlier in the year, but the hawksbill turtle was obviously not paying attention to the calendar.
A successful 2022 nesting season.
The 2022 nesting season ended with a total of 100 nests! There were 50 hawksbill nests, 28 loggerhead nests, and 22 green turtle nests. Klein Bonaire had 54 nests, and 46 nests were on the beaches of Bonaire. A whopping 9555 hatchlings made it into the ocean. Out of the total number, 3317 hatchlings came from adopted nests!
STCB expects our 2023 nesting season to start at the end of April or the beginning of May! Learn how you can adopt a nest for the 2023 season.
Thank you to those who volunteered.
STCB is grateful for their beachkeeper volunteers who helped them complete their field monitoring. If you would like to lend a helping hand, check out the volunteering opportunities.
(Source: STCB, Photography by Meredith Schnoll)
