News

21 August 2008 - Reisa La Torra

We are thrilled to announce that we have received a Disney Rapid Response Fund grant in the amount of $5,000 to help us mobilize our beach protection project for nesting Loggerhead turtles in Cape Verde, West Africa. We are very grateful to Disney for helping to support our project.

Here is a picture of Denise Neves, a local teacher on Boavista, talking with our lead biologist Christian Roder. Our program works with schoolchildren to educate them about sea turtle biology and conservation.

Notice the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund t-shirt Denise is wearing!

20 August 2008 - Norbert Hausen

Everything is going fine so far. Yesterday though, we got an alarming phone call from Julio, a local person supporting the Turtle Foundation. He had been informed by the commander that there were troubles with the soldiers in Fundo. We instantly went there to find out what was going on. Right when we arrived at João Galego we saw the police bus standing there. Then, policemen told us the course of events:

The police sergeant obviously had spotted someone in João Galego wearing an army cap. As it is not allowed to wear military clothing for the civil population, he made him aware of it and wanted to confiscate the cap. All this resulted in a brawl and at least one black eye…. Of course we did our best to arbitrate between the parties and talked to everyone involved.

Then we had to head back again and get everything ready for the upcoming night, so once more our beach patrols could prevent the slaughtering of sea turtles coming ashore to nest on the long, white beaches of Boavista…

18 August 2008 - Norbert Hausen

Cachupa Taxi

We start our day having our breakfast on the roof-deck of our house. That’s the only meal of the day we can enjoy unhurriedly (if there is no unforeseen event coming up). At about 10 am we start making preparations for the day: running errands, checking e-mails, there is always something to do. At 12:30 pm we pick up lunch at Bia’s for the soldiers. Bia is running a little restaurant in Sal Rei together with her husband and offered us to prepare the meals for our soldiers, who are doing the beach-patrols for us. Today they get Cachupa, the Cape Verdean national dish. Cachupa is a stew consisting of corn, beans, fish and meat. We scoop portions from the big pot into smaller closable plastic bowls, which can be transported more easily. The distance between Sal Rei and Fundo is 30 km, the roads made out of cobblestone. The sun is shining and we are boiling in the car… After 45 minutes driving we arrive at our base camp and hand over the hot meals to the soldiers. After a short chat with them we head back to Sal Rei in order get everything ready for the nocturnal night patrols.

8 August 2008 - Christian Roder

Last weekend we got the opportunity to appear before the public with our children’s painting competition. Kalle Paltzer, an acquainted artist from Cologne has created 8 different postcards. 4 of them illustrate threats to sea turtles in the water, 4 others display our activities in order to save sea turtles. For that purpose we also distribute coloured pencils to the children.

At short notice we found out about a big environmental exhibition at Cape Verde’s Capital Praia – a great opportunity to test our painting competition at the sea turtle stand. This kind of competition could become a big success because the kids were very enthusiastic about it! Even Cape Verde’s president, Pedro Pires, appeared at our stand in order to see, what it was that made the children so happy: a great opportunity to hand one of our colouring sets over to him!

26 July 2008 - Norbert Hausen

It’s weekend again. For us this means to be even more alert on our beach patrols, because during weekends usually more turtles are being killed. We take the first group of soldiers to the beach of Porto Ferreira and move on with the second group to Canto. Instead of having 4 people patrolling this beach, as we usually do, we decide to have only 2 of the soldiers to watch over this area today. This gives us the advantage of being a larger group and thus we continue our journey to a hard to access beach, south-east of the island. The ride to “Pointe da Roque” is very exhausting and it’s extremely hard to find the right path. Without having reconnoitred the area earlier today and without our GPS it would probably not have been possible to find our way.

Shortly before we get to the beach, we discover fresh donkey footprints in the sand. We ask ourselves if they originate from a wild or a domesticated animal, maybe with its rider on its back…. Within the idyllically located beach we actually find a donkey tied up on a rock; saddlery and transport bags laying next to it. There is no doubt anymore that there is a poacher around trying to find turtles in order to kill them. We decide that 2 people stay right there watching the donkey and our car, the other 4 people go search the beach. Shortly after we find 2 turtles being turned on their backs – probably not long ago. We immediately turn them back over and accompany them walking back into the ocean. Sure enough the poacher must have noticed us and most probably hides somewhere behind the dunes.

Although we comb through the area for hours, we can’t spy him out. We take pictures of the donkey and the saddlery and head back with mixed feelings. At around 3:30 h in the mornig we get back to our headquarters and hit the sack tired to death.

10 July 2008 - Norbert Hausen

After a visit to our colleagues of Natura 2000 (a Spanish conservation organization) at the Ervatao Beach we pick up the soldiers at Fundo das Figueiras where they are accomodated. From there we head straight to "our" protection zone: the beaches of Canto and Porto Ferreira. Tonight we decide to do the first patrol towards the South. After 860 meters (we use GPS) a soldier notices a turtle that is just about to land on the beach. We immediately lay down in the sand so that the turtle does not get disturbed and frigthened. Thanks to clear skies and strong moonlight we do not need our torches to watch this spectacle. When the turtle started to dig the nest

we walk on as there were no signs of any danger (hunters). During our patrol we see again and again fresh turtle tracks coming from the sea and luckily leading back to the Ocean again. These turtles have obviously survived their dangerous trip to the land.

After 2 km we pass again at the beach of „Nho Martin“. This is where last Saturday we discovered the remains of about 15-20 turtles that were slaughtered on this spot about 10-14 days ago. We analyse the tracks and come to the conclusion that no additional turtles were killed here since. On our way back we come across yet another "Tartaruga" returning to the sea. A little later we can see the tracks of the first turtle that we saw nesting this night leading back to the Atlantic. Yet another night at the East coast of Boa Vista with no turtle killings.

7 July 2008 - Norbert Hausen

Like every day we leave Sal Rei at 5pm to Fundo in order to meet the soldiers and discuss the plan for the night. Today the Turtle Foundation staff decided to join the team that will go to the Southern part of Porto Ferreira. At 8pm we leave the tent in Porto towards Nho Martin, a well known nesting beach at the East coast of Boa Vista. After 400 meters we find the first turtle nesting. We radioed to our colleagues in the tent and told them that they should keep an eye on the turtle. Then we continued. About 1.2 km from there we found another turtle. There were no signs of any turtle hunters in the area. So we left the animal alone and continued our march.

A couple of hundred meters further on all of a sudden we smelled a terrible stench. At first we thought that it was garbage that is spread all over the beaches. When we came closer however, we made a gruesome discovery: we were in the middle of a "turtle butchery". Most of the animals were obviously slaughtered extremely brutally about 7 to 10 days ago. The remains of the animals were in the process of rotting already. In the middle of all these turtle corpses: two turtles building their nest. What a surrealistic sight! Despite the stench that was hardly bearable we decided to stay there until the two turtles had laid their eggs and returned to the sea safely. When we finished our patrol that night we all had mixed feelings indeed.

5 July 2008 - Christian Roder

Hello – Bom Dia!!!!

We are thrilled to report some more good news. During our patrol of last night (Norbert, Fatou, two soldiers and me) in the Northern part of Porto Ferreira we had quite some action. In total we encountered five sea turtles in just four hours. We came across one turtle that was already turned on its back by turtle hunters. Luckily, it was still alive and unhurt. The hunters were not far away (we saw lights from a vehicle at some distance). They obviously planned to take the turtle with them instead of slaughtering it on spot. We turned the frightened and helpless animal around on its belly and followed it on its way back to the sea.

Just a few feet away we discovered yet another Tartaruga (sea turtle in Portugese), which was busy laying eggs. As we knew that the turtle hunters were nearby we stayed with the turtle and guarded it until it finished its business. What an incredible experience!

(c) Harald Mielke

27 June 2008 - Norbert Hausen

At 10am we left Sal Rei in the rented four-wheel-drive towards Fundo das Figueras. After a drive of 45 minutes on cobblestone streets we arrived at Fundo where we could evaluate the progress made in relation to the preparation of the house which will serve as outpost and accommodation for the soldiers. Currently the water tank on the roof is being cleaned and sealed. We made final arrangements with the local cook who shall take care of the meals for the soldiers. Thereafter we continued towards Pointa de Roque. In order to become more familiar with the terrain and the rather difficult road conditions we drove ourselves. The “street” to Roque consists of dirt roads, rocky and bumpy areas as well as sand dunes. No way to get there without a 4x4 vehicle. If it wasn’t for our mobile GPS programmed beforehand we are not sure if we were able to find the beach at Pointa de Roque at all.

At first sight it is a beautiful long sandy beach. But as soon as we take a closer look we become aware that it is rather a turtle cemetery, just like so many other beaches on Cape Verde.

After a short break we headed back to Fundo and further on to the most Northerly part of our zone: Baia de Gatas. Nothing but a few huts occupied by fishermen waiting for their next “shift”. Behind one of these huts we made a gruesome discovery: the remains of two recently slaughtered sea turtles in the process of putrefaction were dumped in ditch full of debris. The smell is unbearable. A quick picture and off we are.

Another negative highlight of our trip: a short visit to a beach called “Canto”. This beach is dotted with turtle carapaces – silent reminders of last year’s slaughtering.

This is a clearly a hotspot for our patrolling activities.