Turtle Stranding Checks

As conservation interns on Ascension, we make up the ‘turtle team’ and are responsible for all aspects of the turtle work. This includes checking for stranded turtles who get into difficulty when returning to the sea after nesting at night and might need some help manoeuvring out of a rockpool, or in more extreme cases might need to be unwedged from in between rocks/cracks. At the start of the season when nest numbers are slowly increasing we didn’t do stranding checks as there weren’t enough turtles nesting for it to be worth checking however on the 12th January we had our first reported turtle stranding and so stranding checks began!

On the 13th January Toby came with Abi, Anna and I to show us the stranding check route which just includes Deadman beach, POL North, POL South and then onto Pan Am beach as its not possible for us to check every beach on the island every day – these beaches are the most common spots for strandings to occur. We are also in the process of building a fence at POL North where there are rockpools that lots of turtles get stuck in to hopefully reduce the number of strandings that happen. 

On our first stop at the POL North Rockpools we spotted our first stranded turtle who was chilling in a rockpool (Whom we named Sue), she seemed fine, not in any distress, she had just made it as far as a deep rockpool in the night and stopped there. The four of us encouraged her out of the rockpool and guided her towards the sea, she made her way back all by herself, just with a little guidance from us.

Toby then went back to the office and Anna, Abi and I headed to Pan Am where we had been warned there is an infamous Pan Am ‘crack’ where they’ve had up to 4 turtles stuck sideways in side a mini canyon at the bottom of the beach where turtles ascend the beach fine, nest and then descend and fall into the blond crack which is over a lip at the bottom of the beach. We had nearly finished checking Pan Am when we spotted a turtle wedged in between two rocks sideways at the bottom of the beach so we used the turtle straps to angle her up and out, and managed to turn her over as a wave came and helped her flip over and be on her way. 

Stranding checks are now incorporated into our everyday morning work before raking as well as at the weekends.