From June 1 to November 16 each year, the field team intensively monitors nightly hawksbill nesting activities on Pasture Beach and adjoining pocket beaches. The researchers patrol the beaches hourly, on foot, from sunset to sunrise, collecting data on hawksbill reproductive ecology. After a female has selected a nesting site and excavated the egg chamber, she enters a “nesting trance” and begins to lay her eggs. This period allows the turtle team to gather necessary data while minimizing disturbance.   Each individual is marked with unique flipper tags and a distinctive notch in the carapace. The turtle’s size, condition, and nesting habitat are recorded. These consistent, replicate surveys allow us to assess the reproductive output, population status and demographics, and long-term trends of Jumby Bay’s hawksbill colony.

The JBHP has been using satellite transmitters to study the movements and migratory patterns of nesting hawksbills dating back to the first transmitter deployment in 1998. More recently, over 25 turtles have been tracked since 2015. This is important work because Caribbean hawksbills are known to migrate throughout the Wider Caribbean Region in order to reach the foraging areas where the spend the majority of their time. To conserve this imperiled species, we need to know where they go! Our findings show that while many turtles remain close to Antigua and Barbuda, some go as far as Nicaragua! You can learn more at the JBHP publications page.

JBHP Research Associate Kate Levasseur continues to describe the fine-scale genetic structure of hawksbills nesting at Jumby Bay and surrounding beaches of Antigua and Barbuda. One of the most interesting findings of this research is the close relatedness of many Jumby nesters: Kate has identified over 40 mother-daughter pairs, providing evidence of natal-homing to a 1000-meter nesting site. She has also found that the hawksbills nesting on Barbuda are genetically different than those nesting on Antigua, showing that nesting stock structure can exists on a scale as small as 50 km in the eastern Caribbean.

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You are what you eat! We collect hawksbill tissue samples to look at specialized biological tracers called stable isotopes, allowing us to gain information into what nesting turtles have been eating, and even where they live when not reproducing. We typically work with carbon and nitrogen isotopes, following the logic that the carbon and nitrogen within hawksbill tissues reflect what they eat and otherwise obtain from the environment. This was a major focus of the Masters research of Alex Fireman, whose work centered on hawksbill keratin—a type of tissue that contains several years of isotopes, and thus information.

The key to conservation is education.

The JBHP has accumulated a wealth of research experience and knowledge about hawksbill population ecology, nesting and reproduction over the past few decades. We’re proud to be able to share this information and our experiences with others through a variety of educational outlets, including:

• Hosting experiential Turtle Watches;

• Visiting schools;

• Partnering with local and regional organizations, such as Antigua’s Environmental Awareness Group, and

• Hosting international researchers through training exchange programs.