Protecting Threatened Coastal Habitats

The Bahamian archipelago is made up of a mosaic of inter-connected coastal ecosystems that include patch reefs, mangroves creeks, and shallow seas. Within these diverse habitats, green Chelonia mydas, hawksbill Eretmochelys imbricata, and loggerhead Caretta caretta turtles can be found in substantial numbers. At the Cape Eleuthera Institute, we monitored the population status of these three turtle species in the waters of Eleuthera, The Bahamas. Because it is estimated that sea turtle populations in the Caribbean have declined by over 97 % in the past few decades, knowledge of their current population trends is essential for guiding conservation efforts. As sea turtles are also keystone species, knowledge of whether their populations are recovering or declining helps to provide a broad-scale indicator of the health of wider Caribbean ecosystems.

The foundation of the sea turtle research program at CEI is a long-term mark-recapture initiative. Using a combination of metal ID tags and photo ID technologies, we were able to track these turtles between 2011 and 2023. We have also used a wide variety of other technologies—such as animal-borne cameras, drones; radio, acoustic, and satellite telemetry devices; and 3D accelerometers—to investigate the ecology of these animals.