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Réserve Naturelle recorded 195 turtle nesting tracks on Saint-Martin beaches in 2024
Volunteers and staff of the Réserve Naturelle de Saint-Martin recorded 195 sea turtle nesting-activity tracks on 14 monitored sites in 2024, down from 255 in 2023, according to the reserve's annual report. The figures count tracks, not nests.
By SXM Daily ·
Reported April 2025.
Patrols on Saint-Martin's beaches recorded 195 sea turtle nesting-activity tracks across 14 monitored sites during the 2024 season, down from 255 in 2023, according to the Réserve Naturelle de Saint-Martin's annual turtle report, published in April 2025. The figures count tracks left in the sand by turtles coming ashore to nest, not nests.
Illustrative: a green turtle off Curaçao. Photo: Bthv / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
According to the report, the reserve's management association (AGRNSM) coordinated about fifteen active eco-volunteers, out of 426 registered, who carried out 599 patrols in 2024, up from 402 the year before. Of the 195 tracks, 140 were fresh tracks from the previous night, compared with 214 in 2023. The average success rate was 38%, against 39% in 2023.
Which turtles, and where
Green turtles were again the most active, with 118 tracks (193 in 2023), while hawksbill turtles left 76 (62 in 2023). As in 2023, no leatherback tracks were found, the reserve said.
The busiest sites were Baie aux Prunes with 102 tracks, Baie Blanche with 30 and Baie Longue with 29, followed by Petites Cayes and the lagoon beach on Tintamarre. According to the report, Terres Basses and Tintamarre island together accounted for almost 86% of all tracks, and beaches outside the reserve remained the most used, with 147 of the 195 tracks. Activity peaked in August.
Why it mattered
The report said the high share of tracks outside the reserve, especially at Terres Basses, showed why awareness work and monitoring of those beaches remained important. A biotope protection order covering the Terres Basses nesting sites was signed in early 2022.
Sources
Source: https://www.tortues-marines-antilles.org/_files/ugd/891b35_5bcbbc81330c4926a639f6e99de4c10b.pdf