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March 2016 Newsletter 1/2016 St Eustatius National Parks March 2016 Newsletter 1/2016 Inside this Publication... 2015 highlights 1 STENAPA Marine Park news 2 Turtle papers published with da- Botanical Garden 3 ta collected from St Eustatius. Quill/Boven National Park 4 Education and outreach 5 Over the last year St Eustatius National Parks Sand temperatures were taken and historical has contributed to three published papers weather data dating back 200 years was Don’t forget… concerning sea turtles. looked at to determine the percentage of males and females produced from Statian Guided Hikes: Call to arrange! A study called ‘Green and hawksbill turtles in beaches since the mid 19th century. the lesser Antilles demonstrate behavioural Botanical Garden: Check out plasticity in inter-nesting behaviour and post- The paper concludes that strategies should the view from the Lookout Gar- nesting migration’ by Esteban et al was pub- be put in place for the future to prevent lo- den. Open from sunrise to sun- lished in ‘Marine Biology’. calized extinction of these species. Measures that can be used would be things like shading set. Great for picnics and BBQs! This study used satellite tracking information nests or relocating them to deeper depths to on three green ensure the temperature of the nest can be Find us on Facebook: turtles and two controlled. Keep up to date with all the lat- hawksbill turtles est happenings - Like our to gather infor- A third study looked into the international ‘Stenapa St. Eustatius’ and mation about movements of female leatherback turtles ‘Stenapa Youth Nature’ pages! inter-nesting, using tag recovery data. migratory and Volunteer At STENAPA foraging habits in 3151 Leatherbacks were tagged throughout the region. Alt- the Caribbean with WC-series tags supplied We are always on the look- hough the sample size was very small the data by Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Network out for new volunteers and was interesting as it showed both migratory (WIDECAST). When a leatherback is seen on behaviour and year-round residents within a monitored beach data is collected including interns, especially with our the group. tag numbers if it already has a tag. turtle season just around the corner. If you would like to The team also used tagging data to look at This data is then shared throughout the re- nest-site fidelity and the results were similar gion and the results were used for this paper. help out at the parks please showing some turtles return to the same contact us or if you know beaches over and over again and others move The Study found that although many of the anyone who would like to from one site to others. leatherbacks returned to beaches within the same country they did not always return to volunteer or complete an Another study published this year in the Jour- the exact same beach and in areas such as internship here please pass nal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecolo- Statia where there are other viable nesting on the contact details to beaches on other islands not in the same gy’ looked at the sand temperatures for nest- them. ing sea turtles in the Caribbean and the impli- political jurisdiction they will often travel cations of this in relation to global climate between different countries. Tel: +599 318 2884 change. These studies are Email: [email protected] Like many other reptilian species, the temper- showing that the old ature of the eggs in the nest is what deter- adage that sea tur- mines the sex of the hatchlings. The higher tles always return to the temperature of the nest the more likely the exact same the hatchlings will be females. With climate beach from which change and temperatures potentially on the they emerged as a rise this can affect the populations of already hatchling is not al- critically endangered species by skewing the ways true and this has important implica- male/female ratios. tions for protection legislation for the future. Page 2 STENAPA Newsletter Marine Park News More sharks tagged in January This event is held every year in a different There will be exhibitions in town, location and is a great chance to take part presentations and talks as well as the During January, park staff were happy in training, network with other turtle return of the popular film nights from to welcome Dr Erwin Winter and his conservationists and keep up with the last year. research assistant Melanie Meijer zu latest technologies, studies and best Sclochtern to Statia once more in an practice from other protection This year there will be more infor- attempt to tag more sharks in our organizations. mation about rays. Sharks and rays waters. form the elasmobranch family of ani- mals and are very closely related. A total of 4 sharks were tagged during Jillian Morris described rays to the 2 days of fishing bringing the total for school children last year as basically Statia to 6 individuals now. ‘squished’ sharks. When we talk about sharks and their importance in the environment we really are talking about all the whole elasmobranch Jessica usually participates as a volunteer. This project is important to learn family. This means long days arriving before any more about the movements of sharks other delegates and leaving late in the Southern stingrays are a common around the island. If we know where evening after preparing for the following sight in the Statia Marine park but we they are, we can better protect them day. Luckily, this year she got funding from also see the beautiful spotted eagle and their habitat. WWF to attend without having to ray and on Lionfish fry - Another good volunteer, meaning she was able to get to rarer occa- turnout. her bed before midnight most nights.! sions the majestic Easter has always been a great time to Shark week 2016 - I think we’re gonna manta ray. be on St Eustatius. The bay comes need a bigger week! alive with stalls, bands and people National Park staff are now gearing up for spending time with family and friends shark week 2016. The week will happen and enjoying the long weekend. this year in June. Seeing these So, back by popular demand on Good animals in STENAPA have Friday this year was the lionfish fry. the marine a wide variety We had an excellent turnout once park is as of interesting again. There were cleaning and much of a events and dissection demos, presentations and thrill as exhibitions planned for the week as well as of course lots of fish to sample. seeing one fun competitions designed to engage the of the several different shark species It’s a tasty fish that has a mild flavour, whole island in the sharky fun. we have. Southern sting rays are of- not dissimilar to grouper and is suited ten seen coming into the city pier The family fun day will kick off the week to a lot of different recipes. They are when the fishermen are cleaning fish, with more games and educational displays invasive and a threat to other fish looking for an easy meal to a chorus for the children. populations and so by eating them, of excited on-lookers. not only are you enjoying a tasty meal, you are helping with environmental Sharks and rays are enigmatic and protection! can capture the imagination like no other species. Even people who are 2016 sea turtle symposium still scared of sharks are also drawn to them and fascinated by them and Jessica Berkel went to Lima, Peru in their behaviour. Shark week 2016 is March for the 2016 world sea turtle gearing up to be bigger and better symposium. than last year so look out for more information over the coming months. Newsletter 1/2016 Page 3 Miriam C Schmidt Botanical Garden Fixing the road for a some time after having to dismantle Work continues on the children’s garden the old playground in early 2014. The restoration and we will be planting up the The first family Friday of March the wooden frames of the previous play sets STENAPA team turned road crew and had deteriorated in the extremes of the they worked on a particularly Caribbean weather and were no longer safe treacherous section of road where the for the children to use. main paved road leads to the dirt road section. The step from the concrete The playground area before work started onto the dirt road had become gradually deeper and steeper over time and in one section it was a drop of 7 and half inches. This was bad enough for the STENAPA pickup trucks (especially with a group of volunteers in the back) but for members of the public with an ‘normal’ car or taxi drivers it had become a serious hazard and meant many were not able to drive all the The area was cleared ahead of Statia Doet weeded flower beds and installing new way to the garden. and interesting installations to educate As with everything at STENAPA, all the and entertain the younger visitors to the The idea of the morning was to even salvageable parts were saved for future use garden. out the drop and ensure the end of the and so we still had the plastic slide, rock- road cannot simply break off again by wall hand holds and other hardware. Planting and propagation using reinforcing wire to extend the end of the road into a gentle slope. The frames were constructed at the Many areas of the garden have been Gwendoline Van Putten school workshop by cleared of Corallita and weeds and are now The foundation hired a cement mixer the teachers and students and installed on in need of some plants.
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