Earthwatch's Tracking Sea Turtles in the Bahamas

In our 50 year history, Earthwatch has weathered countless major storms: economic downturns, political uprisings, catastrophic weather events, even other disease outbreaks… but this pandemic is on track to be the most devastating of them all.

When news of the coronavirus broke at the beginning of the year, we knew that Earthwatch would be impacted, but I doubt any of us expected to go more than a year without fielding a single volunteer. Yet, that’s where we are today, with hundreds of expeditions cancelled through February 2021. This has not only impacted the organization financially, but has also impacted our ability to fulfill our mission as we lose hundreds of thousands of hours of volunteer service and even more in critical research funding for our scientists, student and teacher fellows, and community partners.

The toll this has taken on Earthwatch is unthinkable, but thanks to a Paycheck Protection Program grant, tremendous personal sacrifices from our staff, a history of prudent fiscal management that had us on solid footing heading into the year, and our generous donors, we’re still standing. Indeed, donors like you have made all the difference between Earthwatch potentially having to close its doors indefinitely and where we stand today—operating at strategically reduced capacity, but still fulfilling our mission the best we can through several new virtual programs.

And now that effective vaccines are on the horizon, we can say with confidence that we WILL make it through this. Earthwatch is one of the lucky ones. However, there are still many uncertainties as we prepare for a variety of reopening scenarios. What is certain though is that Earthwatch’s road to a full recovery will be long and rocky, and that we’ll be relying on donor and volunteer support more than ever in the months ahead to help get us there.

As we get ready to turn the page on 2020, we look forward to a new year filled with renewed hope and possibilities. Thank you for your support that turns scientific discoveries into lasting conservation victories around the world. If you are able to make a special year-end gift now towards Earthwatch’s reopening efforts, please do. We cannot wait until our volunteers are able to safely return to the field and our scientists can resume their research, and your gift today will be a huge help in getting us there!

With best wishes for a healthy and happy holiday season,

Your Friends at Earthwatch

Thanks to the ongoing commitment of supporters like you, the end of 2019 marks the completion of 6 years of continuous study of sea turtles in The Bahamas. Unfortunately, this year was the most challenging season yet, as a deadly turtle-specific virus continues to spread amongst the islands, and Hurricane Dorian devastated the country after making landfall on Great Abaco Island in September.

Prior to Hurricane Dorian, new research on Abaco was going especially well, with volunteer teams tagging over 200 turtles, including several loggerhead and hawksbill turtles, which are not seen very often on Eleuthera. This massive undertaking established an excellent baseline population for the long-term recapture studies planned for the following years. 

With the help of four graduate students, lead scientist Dr. Brooks was able to dedicate one full month of data collection to studying the fibropapillomatosis disease, collecting data from over 80 turtles in Abaco and Andros, as well as turtles on Eleuthera. This is the first extensive study of its kind in the region, and will provide important data on the spread and impacts of the disease that will be used to try to identify possible treatment or management strategies.

Dr. Brooks’ complete analyses and findings from all of these activities will be released early next year. In the meantime, as Boston gets colder and darker every day, we are looking forward to returning to The Bahamas in 2020, when Earthwatch will continue data collection on Eleuthera and Great Exuma, and support rebuilding and humanitarian efforts on Great Abaco however we can.

As sea turtles remain under threat from fishing, pollution, coastal development, pollution, and climate change, every year’s worth of data collected is critical to our complete understanding of each species, and brings us closer to identifying the most effective protection strategies. Earthwatch must raise almost $500,000 in donations annually in order to fully fund Tracking Sea Turtles in the Bahamas and other important marine conservation efforts around the world. This means that none of this work would be possible without the generous commitment from donors like YOU. Thank you for your steadfast commitment to protecting endangered sea turtles.

On behalf of Earthwatch’s scientists, staff and board, Happy New Year!

Gratefully,

Heather Wilcox
Director of Annual Giving & Planned Giving
978-450-1208
hwilcox@earthwatch.org

Links:

• Reserve YOUR spot as a research volunteer on a 2020 team!
• Explore Over 40 Research Programs That Need Volunteers Like YOU