The Great Turtle Race is on!

04/27/2009

A critically endangered leatherback turtle at her nesting beach. Copyright (c) 2008 Neil Ever Osborne

By the time Discovery Channel sent me to Costa Rica’s Las Baulas National Park on the Pacific coast to report on critically endangered leatherbacks in 1999, I’d already seen sea turtles in Australia, Texas, Hawaii, and Baja, Mexico. As I wrote in my “blog” Love & Death on Turtle Beach (the word wasn’t even coined until after 1999), they’re “the only soft-shelled, polka-dotted, temperature-regulating, jellyfish-eating sea turtle — not to mention the world's most gigantic.” As I walked the beach under a pitch black sky bedazzled with a zillion stars looking for nesting mamas, I became mesmerized by the leatherback and its plight, which was global in scope, not just a local issue. Sea turtles roam the great ocean planet, and what we do on land affects their ocean world, from water pollution to the use of plastic bags, which they ingest and get entangled in.

It seemed full circle to kick off Animal Planet’s brand new Animals in the News blog with a story on the Great Turtle Race, a friendly competition between 11 leatherback sea turtles as they swim from winter feeding grounds in the frigid North Atlantic toward the tropical Caribbean, where they will mate and lay eggs. From April 16-29, people around the world are watching daily to see who wins and cheering on their favorite as they head toward the finish line.

One turtle just crossed the finish line yesterday, with several more puttering around the vast Atlantic.

Mike James from the Canadian Sea Turtle Network and his colleagues caught each turtle in the North Atlantic last summer and fall, placed a satellite tracking device on their carapace which allows the scientists to follow their movements, and let them go. The 3,700-mile migration to their nesting grounds takes three to six months, and the journey gets condensed into a two week race that people around the world watch online in anticipation.

The Great Turtle Race began in 2007, the brainchild of Dr. Jim Spotila of The Leatherback Trust, who I’d met during my visit to Las Baulas, George Shillinger of Tagging of Pacific Predators; (TOPP), and Rod Mast of Conservation International to raise awareness of leatherbacks as an icon of global ocean conservation issues. In the premier race, leatherbacks left nesting grounds at Las Baulas towards a finish line near the Galapagos Islands. Funny guy Stephen Colbert brought loads of attention to his namesake turtle, Stephanie Colburtle. The 2008 race tracked turtles in the North and South Pacific racing from nesting beaches toward the International Date Line. And this year's race tried a new tack, with the turtles heading towards their nesting grounds rather than leaving from them.

“We got to thinking how cool it would be if, instead of racing from their nesting beach to open ocean, we flipped it around,” says Bryan Wallace, a sea turtle biologist with Conservation International, who are co-sponsoring the 2009 race with the National Geographic Society. The Atlantic population of leatherbacks, also critically endangered but faring slightly better than the Pacific population, nest in Florida, on several Caribbean Islands, and in South and Central America. Each of the female turtles may nest at a different beach.

Olympic athletes serve as “coaches,” an idea Wallace hoped would engage young swimmers and athletes in ocean conservation. Five rock bands are supporting racing leatherbacks – REM, Pearl Jam, RATATAT, and Red Hot Chili Peppers – creating a “battle of the bands” as music fans can follow their favorite.

"We had three main goals,” says Wallace. “First, we want to identify important scientific needs. Second, we want to raise awareness, and a call to action for as many people as we can. In this case, we enlisted the help of Olympic swimmers, rock bands, surfers, schools, et cetera all around same cause. Third, we want to raise funds for conservation in the field."

I talked with Dr. Frank Paladino, a biologist I also met while in Costa Rica, and he believes the Pacific population has bottomed out and will start rebounding. Though last year's nesting season saw a low of 29 to 35 nesting females, down from over 1,600 in 1988, "We should start to see improvement because of protection of the beach, and the output of hatchlings that has occurred in last few years.” For the last decade, they've protected nests from poaching – now virtually nil in that region – and released thousands of hatchlings. Finally, they’ve started seeing smaller, untagged leatherbacks returning to nest which, most likely, are fruits of that labor since it takes 12 to 15 years for them to mature.

Read about out all 11 turtles, and tell us who your favorite is! I'm rooting for Cali, the underdog. He was entangled by offshore fishing gear when caught. Sea turtles also frequently ingest floating plastic bags and other oceanic garbage, mistaking it for food.The Great Turtle Race sponsors encourage everyone to take the No Plastics Pledge. I took the pledge to use no more plastic bags - what about you?

Get more info and fun facts about turtles from Animal Planet!

Watch and learn how turtles navigate their way through the ocean.

Comments

[Shannon]

Thanks for the great news that the leatherbacks are slowly making a comeback! They are amazing animals. I will do my best to avoid using plastic bags in the future :) I look forward to more Animal Planet blogs from you Wendee.

[Drake]

Great blog! I love turtles!No more plastic bags for me! Save the turtles,save the world!

[Sara Wittenberg]

My environmental science students and I followed the Great Turtle Race after learning about the plight of sea turtles, such as how they are affected by light pollution and plastic bags. Many of my students have informed me they have already switched to resuable grocery bags in their family- yeay!

[Wendee Holtcamp]

I have also recently chosen to bring my own bags rather than use plastic (though I recycle and reuse the few I do get). I had the darndest time remembering the reuseable bag in my car for the longest time but I think I've gotten into the swing of it now!!

[Melody S]

Ok, I'm re-taking the pledge. I'm going to USE all the re-usable bags I have. I promise. Thanks for reminding me of that & these beautiful, wonderful creatures.

[cellulite cream]

turtles are such humble creatures.

[Best Cellulite]

I will never let a trash bag fly away again!

[ab rocket]

i saw a show about this on the discovery channel. i recommend looking for the video online... it's worth watching!

[annie]

Can anyone tell me if the race is on for this year? 2010? We follow this race in the town we are from and actually have a board that shows their progress as posted. We don't want to miss this years event but are having trouble finding info. Help!

[Wendee Holtcamp]

Annie I honestly don't know! I looked and see last year's info too. Maybe they aren't? I haven't heard anything.

[south beach coffee diet]

I have a turtle. I'm glad she doesn't have to do that though.

[gps tracking]

Putting a tracking device on the turtle's body is a brilliant idea. It's good to know how those creatures move and live their lives.