Maputaland Sea Turtle Project

Findings of 2008/2009 Season

Successful loggerhead egg-laying this season totalled 212 loggerhead nests and 49 leatherback nests successfully laid. 135 loggerhead females chose to come up the beach but did not lay and the same happened on five occasions with leatherbacks.

During the five-month nesting season, 107 leatherback nests, 360 loggerhead nests, 327 aborted nesting crawls by loggerheads and 6 aborted nesting crawls by leatherbacks were marked using a GPS. Of the marked nests, 12 nests were predated or destroyed by predators (honey badgers and crabs).

Mean hatching success for loggerhead nests was 84.1% and 78.5% for leatherbacks.

For the entire report, click here.



This season's results (from 15 October 2006 to 15 March 2007) have found 304 Loggerhead nesting turtles with 166 'false crawls' - a term given for turtles that make their way up the beach but for some reason (such as less than optimal conditions of the sand at that spot) do not lay their eggs. A total of 98 Leatherback Turtles made their way up our beach with only 9 false crawls. These figures show similar results to the 2005/2006 season with an increase in the Loggerhead Turtle numbers. The high number of Loggerhead Turtle false crawls was attributed to large amounts of sand deposited on the beach during neap tides which created 2-3 metre banks along certain areas of the research area, preventing the turtles from moving beyond the high water mark.

Overall, the monitors were able to successfully tag 79 individuals and inserted 33 identifying microchips. The microchips, recently introduced, serve as a means of identifying turtles which have lost tags in the ocean and will hopefully contribute to the collection of longer term data. The numbers for the season 2006-2007 were therefore a total of 403 nesting turtles of both species and 576 turtle tracks representing emergences onto the beach from the ocean. Twelve turtles that had been recorded in previous seasons were seen again, the oldest being two Loggerheads tagged 17 years ago: one tagged previously in the 1988/1989 season and the other in the 1989/1990, sporting AA and BB tags respectively. Predation along the coast proved to be high in the beginning of the season - a loss rate of almost 50% in the first month, with a number of nests lost to honey badgers, crabs, genets and side-striped jackals patrolling the beaches at night in search of newly laid nests.

Fresh impetus for the project along the 25km of beach patrolled by Rocktail Bay Lodge has been provided by MSC researcher Chris Boyes from the University of Stellenbosch. His main focus is a study of the nesting ecology of the Leatherback Turtle and includes aspects such as egg counting, predation evaluation, pivotal nest temperatures, inter-nesting intervals and hatchling success rate by means of nest excavations. Chris's work has proved to be a vital component of the project. (Read his full report here.)

Judging by the data from this and previous seasons, researchers are confident that the Loggerhead numbers on this coastline are on the increase and it seems the Leatherback numbers are stable, all in all great news.

A big thank you to all involved in this year's season, guides, monitors and managers, and a special thank you to all who adopted a turtle this past season and seasons past. Your funds contribute to the well-being of the phenomenal creatures that have survived, against all odds, to return to the beaches on which they nested to continue the cycle of life.

November 2006

If you thought October was a great month for turtle sightings, you won't believe what November had in store for us. From the first moment of the first drive, we were not disappointed.

The drive on the 1st of November departed at 17H30, in the early evening. Andrew, who was guiding the research drive that night, had the Dyjas family from Russia, and Mr. and Mrs. Baines as well, as Mr. and Mrs. Everitt on his vehicle. Well, it was their lucky night! Exactly at pole 100, which is at the very end of the research area at Mabibi, a little loggerhead emerged from the ocean. As Andrew tagged her with tag number ZA RR508, our guests looked on in total awe of this amazing occurrence happening before their eyes. After Andrew finished tagging her, he took her measurements, which were 81cm long by 69cm wide - a real little lady. Mr. and Mrs. Baines and Mr. and Mrs. Everitt, who have been lifelong friends, decided to adopt her to remind them of their experience on the beach that night, and now this little loggerhead goes by the name Eleanor.

On the 6th of November, we had our first leatherback turtle sighting, and of a turtle that we have seen many times before. This leatherback was originally tagged on the 6th of December 2002. She once again came back to nest last season, on the 3rd of November 2005, where Gugu got to tag her with number PP622. Incredibly, she has returned this year, although without a tag. Mbongeni identified her via the microchip and then re-tagged her with the tag number ZA RR506. Seeing this turtle has made us realise how important the microchips are in the research that we do at Rocktail. If we did not have that little bit of information, we would never have known this particular turtle's history, therefore losing out on important information. This is what research is all about!

On the 21st of November, we had another very special Leatherback come up onto the beach. The reason we say she is special, is because of the tag number, ZA YT057, which she has attached to her, not because she has been adopted (yet!). For those of you that don't know, from the 1st of March 2006 until the 28th of February 2007, is the Year of the Turtle. Countries bordering the Indian Ocean have made an agreement called The Indian Ocean South East Asian Memorandum of Understanding for the conservation of marine turtles and their habitats. There are over 25 countries involved in the agreement, South Africa being one of them. The theme of this project is to cooperate to conserve marine turtles - our ocean's ambassadors. So, this particular tag number is the marking of the Year of the Turtle, therefore being a turtle that nested in the 2006-2007 turtle nesting season, and only a handful of tags have been made with the letters ZA YT.

We also had a very old visitor come back and visit us again this month. She was one of the first loggerhead turtles to be adopted, in the 2002-2003 turtle nesting season, and she goes by the name Kimberley. Her tag number is BB471, which means she was tagged in 1991, which is almost 15 years ago. We cannot tell you what a wonderful feeling it is, seeing a turtle of this age come back again and successfully nest. She looks in great health, and she measured 87cm in length and 79cm wide.

The largest leatherback of the month has to go to the newly adopted turtle named Kimi, who was adopted by Brian and Colleen Roberts. She was seen successfully nesting on the 25th of November 2006, on Lala Nek beach just after midnight. Gugu tagged her with the tag number ZA RR537, and also took her measurements, which are an amazing 1.7m in length, and 1.2m wide. That's one big "Mamma!"

The busiest nights out of the month were those of the 28th and the 29th of November. We documented over 30 different turtle tracks over those two nights. Unfortunately, not so many sightings, but the turtles had already been up, nested and gone back down to the water.

Well, as you can see, we have had another fantastic month. It can only get better, as December is the busiest time for mother turtles and is renowned for the large number of turtles seen.

Wishing you all a peaceful and blessed festive season,
Andrew, Shannon, Simon, Steve, Glenda, Gugu, Mbongeni and the Rocktail Bay Lodge Team

February 2006 - Season ends
On the whole, it has been a fantastic turtle season, and we have made many great memories. To date we have seen an incredible 275 Loggerhead Turtle nests, compared to last year's 171 - a total of 104 more nests than last year - well done Loggerheads! We have also seen 78 Leatherback nests, which is phenomenal for the most endangered sea turtle in the world. Out of the 353 nests that
we have documented since October, 42 of those were made by previously tagged turtles, which means that 311 nests were made by new mothers, or mothers that we have tagged and micro chipped for the first time this season.

January 2006

Our first drive of the New Year departed at 21h30, and was terrific. In total, on that picturesque night, Mbongeni tagged three new Loggerhead mothers, and one Leatherback mother. The Leatherback was quickly adopted at the nest site by Lisbet and Sonja, who fell in love with the one-and-a-half metre reptile, and had to make her a part of their lives forever. They named her "Lois".

This first research drive set the trend for the month: Over the next thirty days, Gugu and Mbongeni have tagged seventeen new Loggerheads and five new Leatherback mothers. We have also seen four previously tagged Loggerhead mothers and eight previously tagged Leatherbacks come back. For the season so far, we have recorded 266 Loggerhead nests, in comparison to last year's 169. That is almost 100 more nests than last year. On the other hand, we have only recorded 74 Leatherback nests compared to last year's 86. It's only a difference of 12 however, and there is still time left in the season for them to catch up.

Just when we thought that January could not get any better, who should arrive on the scene but none other than our first batch of hatchlings - Loggerheads to be exact! They were seen running the gauntlet on Mabibi beach on the 18th January. Gugu, the researcher that night, could not believe it when the miniature turtles scrambled down the beach, ducking and dodging the ghost crabs. For Andrew and Marilyn Leah that were with Gugu that night, it was evidently one of the most amazing experiences that they had ever had the pleasure of witnessing. They watched with bated breath as the little ones made it to the ocean's edge, and dived in without hesitation.

Once again, turtle adoptions have gone through the roof this month, with an unbelievable seventeen turtles find themselves loving families to become a part of. Here are the lucky turtles that found themselves adopted:
* Derek and Pamela Machin adopted Gran the very old Leatherback Turtle
* Lisbet and Sonja adopted Lois, a Leatherback Turtle
* Eloise Turtlette, the Loggerhead was adopted by Marco and Amy Moore
* Peter and Carol Jones adopted Samjay, a Leatherback Turtle who they named after their two newest grandchildren.
* Glen Davis and Mary-Jane Aladren adopted two Leatherback Turtles. The first they named Thembisile, which is the Zulu word for Promise. The second they named Thembeka, which is the Zulu word for Trust.
* Patrick Trebbe and Birgitt Watts, who are old friends of Rocktail, adopted Leni AKA Famous Freda.
* Karen Deller adopted a Loggerhead turtle for her son, Jayden Deller. She christened her "Jay-Bay the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle"!
* Lady Godiva was adopted by Marek, Janine, Josh, Jordan and Will Masajoda. She is a Leatherback and they christened her "Lady Godiva", because Leatherback Turtles are such "good divers"...
* Ava Maria the Leatherback Turtle was adopted by Tim and Ava-Maria Gallop. She was named after her 'mother' by her 'father,' because Ava was not on the drive when they saw her.
* Sean and Carroll Moore adopted Seren the Leatherback for their son and daughter-in-law, Stephen Moore and Ruth Hamilton. Seren is the Welsh word for star.
* Mama Ulwandla was adopted by Craig, Linda, Jess and Ryan O'Flaherty, who witnessed Gugu tag her with tag number PP643. Mama Ulwandla is the Zulu translation for Mother of the Sea.
* Graham and Sue Nicholls adopted Laura the Loggerhead Turtle. She was originally tagged in the 2001-2001 turtle-nesting season and wears the tag number LL434.
* Trevor, Dot, Andrew and Richard Milton also adopted two turtles. The first was Lala the Loggerhead, who they saw being tagged for the first time by Gugu. They named her Lala because she nested on Lala Nek beach. The second turtle they adopted is Lali the Leatherback Turtle.
* Patrick Boddam-Whetham adopted Lerato the Loggerhead turtle, whom he saw nesting on the 26th January.
* Jean Swart adopted Heather, a Loggerhead Turtle. Jean adopted this turtle because she originally nested on the 13th of December 2005, which is Jean's birthday.