Protecting the Leatherbacks

Did you know that a male leatherback sea turtle, once it first heads to sea, never returns to land, while the female returns to her place of birth every year to lay hundreds of eggs each nesting season?!

We are fortunate in our small twin-island state that these incredible giants, after swimming thousands of miles, still visit our shores. Unfortunately, however, they face numerous threats upon arrival here: illegal poaching, entanglement in fishing nets and mistreatment by humans. When one thinks of it, it is a scary place for an animal that is simply looking for a safe nesting ground.

I admire the work of many local groups and individuals—including Michael James— who dedicate their lives to protecting our beautiful sea turtles. “Yankee”, as James is known by the Manzanilla community where he was born and raised, lived his entire life near the sea. His love for animals has inspired him to protect the leatherback sea turtles which he has been quite fond of since he was a little boy. Growing up on the beach, not only did he look out for the popular leatherbacks, but other sea turtle species including the green and hawksbill turtles.

I commend this most humble villager for devoting over 30 years of his life to carrying out both daytime and night-time patrols daily, together with other villagers, to ensure the nesting turtles and their hatchlings are safe.