The number of turtles laying eggs on Aruba’s beaches is decreasing by 5 percent each year. Minister of Nature Ursell Arends announced this on Thursday.
The Turtugaruba Foundation, a local nature organization, annually investigates the number of turtles and turtle nests on the beaches. In 2009 there were still 154 nests counted, but in recent years this has fallen to a few dozen.
The minister calls for more turtles to be able to safely reach the coasts again.
That means, among other things: fewer beach parties at night, more frequent clean-ups of the beaches and avoiding bright lights on the coast. In this way, Arends hopes to increase the growth of the four different turtle species that are regularly seen on the island.