11K for sea turtle research in Lac Bay

STCB staff will swim around Klein Bonaire to raise $11,000 for sea turtle research in Lac. Will you support them?

At the end of July, our Field team – Field Coordinator Daan and Intern Extraordinaire Kate – will swim a full circle around Klein Bonaire (a whopping 11km!) to raise funds for sea turtle research in Lac Bay. Why? Well, we are in desperate need of two new research nets…

Lac Bay – with its beautiful seagrass meadows – is actually Bonaire’s most important foraging ground for green sea turtles. In fact, research by Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire (STCB) over the past twenty years has shown that turtles in Lac Bay grow significantly faster than turtles on the west coast of our island. And… faster growth rates allow sea turtles to reach adulthood at an earlier age, meaning they can start having babies in their twenties instead of their thirties – good news!

That said, we do notice that growth rates have been decreasing slightly in the bay. This may be caused by a number of factors, such as invasive seagrass, poor water quality and diseases; or other factors that we have yet to discover. To continue to collect data, to monitor the situation and to learn more about those potential factors affecting the growth rates of sea turtles in Lac, we need new material. The research net that we currently use to capture sea turtles is in desperate need of retirement.

So, back to Daan and Kate and their swim around Klein Bonaire – another important foraging (and nesting) area for sea turtles. To raise $11,000, needed to purchase two new nets, Daan and Kate – who have no experience swimming long distances – are determined to swim around Klein Bonaire in one go. They started training in the beginning of June and have about six weeks to get ready as their swim is scheduled for the week of 29th July.

We are hoping that you will help us to continue our work in Lac Bay by supporting our ‘11K for Lac Bay’ campaign. You can donate here and please don’t forget to share our campaign with fellow turtle lovers!

A few notes:

• All donations will go to Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire - through the PayPal account of WIDECAST (widecast.org).

• The nets will be purchased from ‘Nettenfabriek De Noordzee’ in the Netherlands. Each net costs EUR 5.112,80 excluding tax and shipping.

• The swim will be conducted in the week of 29th July. A day will be chosen based on weather conditions.

• Daan and Kate will be accompanied by STCB’s boat with captains and medical staff.

• If, due to unforeseen circumstances, we have to cancel the swim, we will come up with an alternative and we will keep all supporters informed.