yesYou might forget how strong the moon’s light is until you’re standing on a deserted beach under a partially cloudy sky on a full moon night, far from any artificial light pollution. As each cloud passes, your view changes dramatically. One moment there’s near total darkness, and the next, rocks, trees, and ocean waves begin to take shape.
One such night, I was walking (well, practically sprinting) along Jones Bay Beach on the northwest coast of Nevis with Lemuel “Lem” Pemberton, founder of the Nevis Turtle Group (NTG). Some of the passing clouds had brought rain, so the sand on the beach was soggy and the tree branches were still submerged in water. We relied on moonlight and a red flashlight to find our way.
That night, Rem and the two NTG team members who were with him were on the shore checking for sea turtle tracks and examining previously marked nests to see which ones had hatched baby turtles.
Working quickly, Rem locates previously marked nests, visually identifies turtle tracks (identifying which species made them almost instantly) and new nests built by turtles – even in the fading moonlight.
He works So I didn’t even realize we were standing under a manchineel tree until rainwater was dripping down my wrists and blisters on my skin while I was trying to write everything down on the clipboard recording the nesting data. I’ve known for a long time that the toxins in this tree’s leaves, bark, and berries are so potent that even a small amount of rainwater can do the trick. So, I blame the moon. Or maybe the clouds. Or maybe it’s just my slowness compared to Rem’s incredible speed.
But as he was washing his wrist, he received good news: the nests he’d just excavated had a high success rate, with 95 percent of the eggs hatching. He counted 103 shells, and only a few didn’t hatch. That’s a good figure for a hawksbill nest; in poor conditions, fewer than 90 hatchlings can successfully hatch.
After checking out a few more nests, Lem got us back in the car and drove us to Lover’s Beach on the north coast. During sea turtle nesting season (March to September, with hatching usually occurring between September and November), Nevis is home to leatherback, green and hawksbill turtles, all of which are endangered. NTG monitors as many beaches as resources allow.
aAs we navigate the uneven terrain of Lover’s Beach, Rem tells me that the beach has eroded in recent years, losing more than 300 feet. Loss of nesting habitat is one of the many pressures facing sea turtles throughout the Caribbean, including sargassum, which is abundant on this beach.
With the lights of southern St. Kitts flickering in the distance across the bay, we stopped at the rocks that border the beach to see if we could spot any turtles emerging into the moonlight. Rem confirmed that both hawksbill and green turtles have been nesting there recently.
On the island of Nevis, population just over 11,000, Lem is in many ways a one-man army… or, more appropriately, the general of a small guerrilla army.
I visited in late September, near the end of the season, and I know my chances of seeing any sea turtles are slim, but I’ve seen leatherback and hawksbill nests many times, but never a green turtle, so I hold out a faint hope.
New clouds passed, this time bringing rain and darkening the beach. I was not dressed for the rain, but I was lost in my conversation with Rem and the hypnotic sounds of the ocean, and all I could think about was how difficult nighttime patrols must be for the volunteers in this area. On our last turtle tour (in Mathura, Trinidad), our guide had been feeling pretty sick; the long nights and frequent exposure to the elements had left her body worn down.
When I mentioned this to Rem, we laughed and discovered that his wife is also originally from Trinidad, just like me. And of course, he knows all the turtle conservationists in the region that I’ve met over the years. My trip to Nevis really reminded me that we’re all more connected than we might imagine.
One of the boat attendants on my trip from St. Kitts was also Guyanese, and upon learning I was Trinidad and Tobago, we enjoyed some good laughs (and jokes) about Guyana’s Amazon Warriors beating the Trinidad and Tobago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League T20 cricket final a few days earlier.
In Nevis, population just over 11,000, Rem is in many ways a one-man army, or more accurately, the general of a small guerrilla army. During peak season, he says, there are between four and six volunteers, but they never all show up on the same night. Each night, Rem picks them up and drives them home. But during slow seasons, he might be the only one there.
It’s a tough, often thankless job, but he’s been bravely doing it for more than 20 years, typically being out seven days a week during nesting season — sometimes at night, sometimes during the day.
Lem’s interest in turtle conservation began during a Natural Resource Management course at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados. On returning to Nevis in 2001, he wanted to know which beaches on Nevis were home to nesting turtles, and how many there were.
At the time, he was working for the Fisheries Department in Nevis and persuaded four colleagues to join him. They spotted a hawksbill turtle in this same Lovers Bay on their first night, and thus NTG was born, officially founded in 2003.
In their first year they counted 12 turtles, and over the next few years the number increased to 67. During this time, with the help of financial support, they were able to gradually build a stronger team and increase their patrols. Although they lost some personnel during that time (some who emigrated, some who studied abroad, some who got married and had children), NTG was making real and meaningful progress.
Lem and his team have completed various trainings with turtle conservation organisations in Antigua, Trinidad and other countries. Poaching of turtle eggs and turtles themselves has been significantly reduced. Awareness and education programmes in schools and communities are changing perceptions of the value of turtles.
“When these young people grow up, they grow up with the mindset of protecting turtles, not eating turtles,” Lemme explains.
Two of NTG’s longest-standing partners have supported this effort: the Florida-based Sea Turtle Conservancy (STC), the world’s oldest sea turtle conservation organization, and the Four Seasons Resort Nevis (FSRN), which funds tracking programs and various educational activities during its annual Sea Turtle Week (July 19-23 in 2024).
The partnership between STC and FSRN dates back nearly 20 years, when STC Executive Director David Godfrey received a call about sea turtles nesting just in front of the resort and attracting guests.
But when the hatchlings finally emerged in the middle of the night, the resort’s fluorescent lights disorientated them, causing them to go the wrong way and wash up in the resort’s pool, where many of the hatchlings died or became lost among the surrounding vegetation.
This was a turning point for FSRN, and they asked STC for help to make sure this never happens again. The first steps were to change the resort’s lighting and educate staff about sea turtles. Along the way, they explored partnership opportunities to have a broader educational impact.
It’s a tough, often thankless job, but one that Lemuel has braved for more than 20 years.
STC was already conducting a satellite tracking program to learn more about turtle movements, so FSRN came on board as a research partner, funding two satellite trackers to follow nesting turtles on Nevis.
Every July during Sea Turtle Week, the two organizations work with NTG to locate sea turtles, outfit them with trackers and release them into the waters at Pinney’s Beach (where FSRN is located, with iconic Nevis Peak in the background). The turtles then take part in STC’s annual Tour de Turtles, a mock race in which the turtle that can be tracked online is “won.”
“We don’t know where our turtles are going unless someone sees a tagged turtle or they die and wash up somewhere,” Lemme explains, “But with the transmitters we have a good idea of ​​where they’re going. Some have gone as far south as Grenada; one nested there and showed up in Barbados the following year; one was caught in Nicaragua; the two in 2023 showed up in the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic.”
The team at FSRN also recognizes the inherent value of these different types of organizations working together to bring about incremental but meaningful change.
“We’re excited to partner with them,” explains Mitchell Nover, the resort’s director of public relations and communications. “Nevis is a small island that rarely sees mass tourism, so it’s important to us that we help protect the island as much as we can because that’s a big part of what makes it so special. And it’s just so exciting to offer a unique experience for our guests, too.”
THowever, the pandemic has hindered NTG’s progress, impacting their most precious resources: manpower and funding. While they were previously able to offer modest compensation to volunteers, reduced funding levels have made this impossible.
STC is offering all the support it can. “I have so much respect for Rem and his team and all the work they do,” says David, “so we fund the group every year and give training grants because the data they’re collecting is crucial. They’re out in the field collecting it meticulously.”
Dedicated volunteers are welcome and valuable, as are long-time partners. But what NTG needs most right now is funding to continue its work. Leatherback numbers are declining, but Rem isn’t sure if that’s due to pressure on an endangered species or a data problem caused by limited patrols. And there is still an open sea turtle hunting season in St. Kitts and Nevis; of course, NTG is lobbying to have this limited or eliminated altogether.
And yet, Rem presses on. He is the embodiment of the old adage, “If I don’t do it, who will?” And hopefully, potential new partners and funders will ask themselves the same question.
Four Seasons Resort Nevis (fourseasons.com/Nevis/) has generously provided a host to support this work. For more information about the Nevis Turtle Group or to donate, please click here. Nevis Turtle Group.
