Abstract
Every year, thousands of sea turtles land on the Cape Verde islands to nest: the archipelago is in fact the third largest reserve in the world in terms of number of turtles hosted, after Oman and South Florida. Among the various islands that make up the archipelago, Boa Vista is the favorite of these reptiles at risk of extinction. Although the Cape Verdean government has placed all species of sea turtles under protection, they are exposed to numerous dangers. The list of threats is very extensive. Poaching of nesting females is still a widespread phenomenon, killed for human consumption of their meat and eggs. Other human activities put their survival at serious risk: light and environmental pollution from large hotel structures, the flow of tourists trampling on their nests, the huge accumulation of plastic that suffocates their favorite beaches, fatal collisions with ships and boats, and industrial fishing that accidentally captures them.
This photographic series focuses on the sea turtle protection activities carried out by local rangers and international NGO volunteers on the beaches of Boa Vista and the various anthropogenic threats that weigh on the conservation of these fascinating marine reptiles.

Bushes walking on the sand
The rangers and international volunteers of the Fundação Tartaruga reach the beaches at sunset. It is one of the NGOs present on the island, founded to protect the sea turtles that land on the island to nest. Every night, from June to October, the foundation’s teams composed of marine biologists and local rangers patrol dozens of kilometers of beaches in search of female specimens that have reached Boa Vista to lay their eggs.
The first difficulty for the operators who patrol the sandy coast is spotting them in the pitch black of the night. «We can’t use torches. The white light scares the turtles, disorients them and there is a risk that they return to the sea to look for another, quieter place» explains Franziska Haas, a 22-year-old German biologist originally from Leichlingen. It is her third year as a volunteer on Boa Vista and she has mapped hundreds of nests dug into the white sand of Lacacão, in the south of the island. «When we spot them, we approach from behind so as not to be seen, silent as fish: even noise can scare them and send them away. Then we illuminate them with a very dim red light, just for a moment, to understand if they are laying eggs or if they are still digging the hole».

Each team is made up of 3 or 4 volunteers with scientific training and at least one environmental ranger, a local professional established by the Cape Verdean government in 2008 who guides and coordinates the scientists in the patrol. An indispensable resource for the protection of the turtles: they are local actors who know the island and every single grain of sand in detail. Before starting the patrol, the operators carry out a briefing to discuss the route and organize the tasks to be carried out: «Usually the deposition lasts about two hours» – Emilio Landim, ranger in Boa Vista since 2020, reminds the volunteers – «and we might have to move a hundred eggs to the hatchery. The turtle will sleep, but we have to be quick». Everything is organized to the rhythm of a metronome, to minimize the time to dedicate to the female perched on the beach and then hurry to follow another: there are those who will help the reptile dig a deeper hole, those who will inject a microchip for the census, those who will note the GPS coordinates of the nest and those who will visit the animal to assess its age, size, state of health and the presence of wounds. And there are also those who, at their first experience of patrol, wonder perplexed how to track down an arriving turtle in the pitch black of the night: «Look at the shoreline, look for the splashes of the waves jumping in the air» replies the ranger. «When they arrive they look like bushes near the sea. Have you ever seen a bush walking on the beach?» asks Landim smiling.

Increased Nesting in Boa Vista
In all sea turtle breeding areas around the world, the annual number of nesting animals and nests is subject to natural variation. In a population undisturbed by humans, these fluctuations would tend to be around a fairly constant mean value over many years, although variations of double or half this value are not uncommon. The main reason for this is that turtles do not make the long and arduous migration from feeding grounds to nesting sites every year at a time, but usually only every other year. The actual length of these breeding intervals is determined by a number of factors, including the availability of food for turtles in their feeding areas, which can fluctuate. This results in both increases and decreases in the annual number of nests.
Thomas Reischig, Scientific Director of the Turtle Foundation, explains that «since 2016, nesting activity has increased significantly, but not uniformly, with large spikes upwards around multiples of the previous average in 2018, 2020 and 2021». In fact, in the summer of 2024, there were about 19,400 nests dug into the sand of Boa Vista, compared to about 11,000 in the previous summer season. The reasons for this increase in the population are not entirely clear and are much debated by experts. «It is probably not a success of previous conservation efforts on the beaches of Cape Verde, since they lasted less than the average time from birth to laying the first egg (an average of about 30 years for the loggerhead turtle)», says Reischig. «The causes can be traced back to several factors such as a temporary increase in food supply due to climate change, overfishing of the oceans and the resulting decline in natural predators of young sea turtles such as sharks or killer whales», the scientist concludes. The surge in nesting numbers could therefore be linked to the productivity of the ocean: if there is a high nutrient density in a given year, for example, the turtles will have enough energy to nest. Another possible factor is the global decline of sharks and other natural predators of sea turtles: populations of sharks, killer whales and rays have declined by more than 70% since 1970 due to overfishing.

Patrolling with rangers and international volunteers
Since 2009, rangers supported by international volunteers have been monitoring 34 kilometers of beaches, spread across different areas of the island. There are many more to patrol, but resources and funding are limited. In addition to providing direct support to the chitons that nest in critical conditions, the constant presence of ranger and biological teams is intended to discourage poachers from approaching the reptiles. «During the nesting season of the loggerhead sea turtles, from June to October, we carry out patrols on five beaches where we manage seasonal camps that are located in the north (Boa Esperança), northeast (Canto, Cruz do Morto) and south (Curral Velho, Lacação) of the island», says Euclides Resende, executive director of the Turtles Foundation of Boa Vista. «The turtles are poached for their meat and eggs, which are sold by word of mouth. The black market for shells, on the other hand, is not common, especially because most of the shells used to make furniture products come from green turtles that have a flat shell. Thanks to our presence, killings on our island have decreased exponentially: in 2023 we documented 29 cases of killings that occurred on the beaches we monitor compared to thousands ten years earlier».

Human consumption of turtle meat and eggs is still widespread in the archipelago despite the establishment, in 2015, of a “special legal regime” that criminalises «the consumption of meat, eggs or any remains or parts of sea turtles» [1]. Guarding some of the beaches seems to be the best deterrent to keep poachers away and the volunteers are well aware of this: «The natural predators of an adult turtle are the killer whale and the white shark. But when one of them lands on the beach to nest, it finds another: man» explains Simone Ambrosini, a 21-year-old Swiss biologist at his first experience with the island’s turtles. «The work we do here is an attempt to repay the damage caused by man such as poaching, mass tourism, light pollution and reckless fishing. Helping the turtles, from their arrival on the beach until the eggs hatch, is an activity that repays the efforts and physical sacrifices of us volunteers and rangers who live in tents and work on beaches scorched by the sun and the torrid heat of summer».

On the trail of poachers: the “Drone and Dog” team
The targeted selection of nesting beaches by a team of rangers equipped with night vision devices and conservation dogs has led to a significant reduction in poaching on the coasts of Boa Vista since its introduction in 2019. This is an innovative project developed in close collaboration with local authorities and the police. The dogs are trained in “mantrailing”, to follow the scent trails of turtle meat, and are used both for patrolling the beaches and at the airport to track down the meat headed to the other islands of the archipelago. «Dogs have a very developed sense of smell, which allows them to locate hidden objects and follow scent trails over long distances», explains Adilson Monteiro, the coordinator of the ranger team who works with the three detection dogs involved in the project. It is not only this characteristic that makes them the ideal complement for rangers and volunteers in the search for poachers at night. Objects left at the crime scene, such as knives, bottles and other materials, can be used to pick up the scent and have the dog memorize it. «In addition to the tracking dogs, we have opted for modern night vision technology controlled by drones. This allows us to foil attacks in advance, as it greatly increases the surveillance range. All this helps us to transmit adequate evidence to the authorities for subsequent prosecutions», concludes Mointeiro.

“Ba pa bela”: the unique flavor of sea turtles
The turtle meat trade has become a profitable business only in recent years, immediately after the establishment of the legal statute that prohibited capture. Before 2015, in fact, the direct sale of eggs or entrails was a rare phenomenon on the island because fishermen had no restrictions imposed by the institutions. Fried, grilled or in a stew, turtle meat has been an integral part of the island’s culinary tradition. «It has a unique flavor, a flavor that cannot be compared to other sea animals, especially those that arrive at the beginning of the season, in June and July, which are larger and have a lot of fat» says Zenildo Fortes, 39, now a tour guide but until a few years ago a turtle fisherman. The government ban has caused the value of meat to soar on the black market, which today stands at around 15 euros per kg: of the female loggerhead turtles that are preyed upon, only the carapace is excluded and left buried in the sand to hide the deadly smell of decomposition.

In Boa Vista, the tradition of hunting nesting turtles is still alive in the inland villages. The inhabitants of João Galego, Fundo das Figueira and Cabedo do Tarafes in the north of the island stalk the beaches to kill sleepy turtles to eat or sell meat and eggs. The predation of nesting females, moreover, is a phenomenon that has its roots in the depths of local customs and traditions: “Ba pa bela”, or the Creole expression for “catching a turtle”, was considered a “rite of passage” to adulthood for boys or male children in Boa Vista. «For my family, hunting turtles was normal. My grandfather did it, my father did it and I learned it from my older brother. All the families in the village of João Galego have always eaten turtles, it is part of our traditions. Catching a turtle meant becoming a man, no longer being considered a child. My father and grandfather used to say to me “Bravo! You have become a man now“» concludes Zenildo Fortes.