A male loggerhead sea turtle glides through the pristine waters off the coast of Sal, Cape Verde. Nest numbers on the islands have risen dramatically over the past five years. Photo Credit: Annika Hammerschlag
Animals Cape VerdeSea Turtles Now Thrive in This Archipelago
Thanks to conservation efforts, the sea turtle population in Cape Verde has soared over the last five years, positive news for the endangered marine animal.
“If you look at the number of sea turtle projects that are out there now, compared to what you had 30 years ago, there are hundreds of them,” says Rod Mast, co-chair of the marine turtle specialist group at the International Union for Conservation of Nature. “We’re doing a really good job of protecting them.”
On the island of Maio, some 100 citizens patrol beaches every night during the nesting season to protect females from poachers, fit them with tracking chips, collect data, and return them to the sea. Since taking conservation measures, the population of sea turtles across the 10 Cape Verdean islands rose from 10,725 in 2015 to close to 200,000 in 2020. The archipelagos are believed to be one of the largest nesting sites for loggerheads in the world.
