Friends reports record-breaking turtle hatchlings on STJ
By Sara Kirkpatrick | Virgin Islands Daily News.
The Friends of the V.I. National Park’s Sea Turtle Monitoring and Protection Program had a successful 2024 sea turtle nesting season, with a record-breaking number of hatchlings that made it out to sea.
“We had an amazing record breaking year,” Sea Turtle Program Coordinator Willow Melamet told The Daily News. “We have a wonderful volunteer group, and we are grateful to have this program on St. John to protect the turtles.”
The Sea Turtle Monitoring Program 2024 annual report, which represents data gathered from March 2024 to April 2025, said 3,221 hatchlings made it to sea, the highest number recorded since the program started in 2015.
One hundred and sixty of those hatchlings were found stuck in the nest, but with help from program monitors they too were able to start their journey out in the open ocean.
The report also stated that 38 nests were monitored, the second highest in a year, with 11 estimated nesting females.
A majority of those nests are made by the critically endangered Hawksbill sea turtle.
“Their nests are hard to find sometimes, they are camouflaged in vegetation, made on secluded beaches, and that makes our work a little harder,” Melamet said.
The program has also recorded nests made by green and leatherback sea turtles.
Melamet said during the peak nesting season, from July to November, 45 beaches on St. John were monitored by 95 volunteers.
“They do early morning beach patrols, so they are walking the full length of the beach, looking for tracks, or anything that might disturb the nest, or signs of emergence,” Melamet said.
Once a nest is located, the program can install protections, such as a plastic mesh screening that deters predators, such as mongoose.
If a nest is in imminent danger of flooding or erosion, nests can be relocated to a new site with similar environmental conditions.
Globally, one concern for turtle nests is warming sand temperatures, due to climate change.
A sea turtle’s sex is dependent on temperatures within the nest, with male hatchlings incubating at lower temperatures compared to females. Known as feminization, warming sand temperatures are significantly decreasing the number of male hatchlings in some parts of the world.
Melamet said the University of the Virgin Islands has conducted sand temperature data collection on St. Croix, where sands can be warmer due to a lack of vegetation.
She said warmer sands are less of a problem on St. John, where there is vegetation along most beaches, which helps keep the temperatures lower.
“We could find out that we are a very important nesting ground because of that, and temperature collection is something we hope to do in the future,” Melamet said.
During the low season, from December through June, Melamet said 35 volunteers continue to monitor at strategic beaches.
“Monitoring year round allows us to collect even more data and it’s making sure those beaches have eyes on them,” Melamet said.
Volunteers also photograph beaches throughout the year, to document changes in beach profiles such as sand accumulation, erosion, and sargassum abundance.
Melamet said that sargassum can be a significant obstacle for nesting turtles and for hatchlings trying to make it out to sea.
While sargassum is a vital habitat for hatchlings when out in open waters, Melamet said it can pose an issue when nearer to shore.
“It’s a significant physical barrier for hatchlings, and if they settle in sargassum floating out in the bay, they could get pushed back into the bay,” she explained.
Since 2016 the Sea Turtle Monitoring Program has developed a Photo-ID database for the foraging population of green sea turtles in Maho Bay.
Each turtle has a unique facial scale pattern that can be used for identification.
Melamet said they plan to expand the Photo ID program into other bays, such as Leinster Bay, Waterlemon Cay, and Salt Pond.
“It will be cool to see if we can Photo ID the same individuals in multiple bays,” Melamet said.
Another aspect of the Sea Turtle Program includes education and outreach, and Melamet said they plan to increase boater outreach by targeting local charter companies and boat captains.
“We want people caring about turtles, the more you know about something the more inclined you are to protect it,” Melamet said.
Boat strikes pose a major threat to sea turtles in the territory, accounting for nearly 35% of sea turtle fatalities from 2020 to 2024 on St. John.
“It’s a huge issue for sea turtles, so we promote the messaging of slowing down, especially in areas where they are foraging, particularly on the North Shore of St. John between Cruz and Caneel bays,” Melamet said.
Melamet said they work closely with the Sea Turtle Assistance and Rescue network, which provides rescue and stranding responses for sea turtles on all three islands.
STAR responds to any sea turtles or hatchlings that are injured, trapped, entangled, disoriented, or dead.
To report a sea turtle to STAR, call 340-690-0474 and be ready to provide detailed information about the location of the stranding, the condition of the turtle (alive or dead), and a description of its size and any visible injuries.
Overall, Melamet said she is happy to see how the program has flourished over the years.
“Friends of the Park has worked to expand the program to include more professional development, education and outreach, and we reach consistently higher number each year of students with the School Kids in the Park,” she said.
For more information visit https://friendsvinp.org/sea-turtle/.
