Sea Turtle Vulnerability in Puerto Rico - Tufts UniversityMay 09, 2017  · There are seven...

Introduction

There are seven different species of sea turtles on Earth, six of which are classi-

fied as either vulnerable or endangered. Puerto Rico serves as a nesting spot for

three of the endangered sea turtle species: Hawksbill turtle, Green sea turtle, and

the Leatherback turtle. Puerto Rico is a tourist hotspot in the Caribbean, attracting

millions of visitors every year. Most of these people go to Puerto Rico for their

beautiful beaches, which leads to an increased demand in hotels and resorts near

the coast. This affects nesting sea turtles

in two ways: building structures near the

coast often accelerates coastal erosion,

which will cause beaches to recede and

eventually leave turtles with no place to

nest; also, more human activity on

beaches can lead to the destruction of

turtle nests and their feeding habitats.

Light pollution from nearby cities and structures is another contributor to sea turtle

declines. Artificial lighting often causes turtle hatchlings to become disoriented

and wander away from the ocean, where

they eventually die. Sea turtles are also vic-

tims of fishing bycatch, especially in places

with increased fishing activity. Lastly, sea

level rise as a result of climate change has

the potential to wipe out the beaches that

sea turtles use as nesting sites.

This map presents the sea turtle threats

mentioned above with regards to turtle

nesting sites. The number of turtle clutches at each site is also presented. A clutch

is a group of eggs, or what would consist of a nest. The purpose of this project is to

delineate some of the factors that put sea

turtles at risk, and demonstrate the over-

lap between these and sea turtle nest

sites. The total population is shown as a

signal of lighting pollution: the larger the

population the greater the lighting pollu-

tion. Hotels and resorts are used as a sign

of tourism and human activity, while

fishing piers are used as a signal of fish-

ing activity in the area.

Methods

I first geocoded the latitude and longitude coordinates for turtle nest sites,

hotel/resorts sites, and fishing pier sites. Once I exported the data for the coordi-

nates I ran a spatial query for the turtle nesting sites that were within 5 km of hotel

sites. I ran another spatial query to select the nest sites that intersected with the Sea

Level Rise layer. This gave me the nest sites that would be submerged under water

after sea level rise. Another spatial query was used to select the nest sites that were

within 10 km of a fishing pier.

Conclusion

The island of Puerto Rico is an essential ecosystem and habitat for the Hawksbill,

Leatherback, and Green sea turtles. In order to attempt to conserve these creatures,

we must first be aware of the things that threaten them. Although tourism is a major

source of income for Puerto Rico, it is important to prioritize conservation of biologi-

cal diversity as well. If further development on the coast is avoided, then the threats

of light pollution and habitat destruction can at least be mitigated. Fishing can be lim-

ited in places where sea turtles are known to nest, or new fishing equipment can be

used in order to minimize sea turtle bycatch. Climate change and its resulting conse-

quences are a world-wide problem. This is something that the island of Puerto Rico

cannot resolve on its own, and may end up affecting the island regardless of the

measures they take. The threats that these turtles face is real, and it is my hope that

this project can serve to demonstrate that there is a correlation between the threats

and sea turtle populations.

Sources

NOAA Fisheries. Sea Turtles. Web.

<http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/turtles/>

Sea Turtle Conservancy. Information About Sea Turtles: Threats to Sea Turtles.

Web

<https://conserveturtles.org/information-sea-turtles-threats-sea-turtles/>

WWF. Sea Turtles. Web

<https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/sea-turtle>

Images

<https://static1.squarespace.com/static/505c9118e4b08da3b4045056/

t/56e86f6227d4bd6265f189df/1458073464580/>

<https://www.fws.gov/news/blog/images/open-spaces-blog/1215vietnam1.jpg>

<https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/

Hawksbill_Sea_Turtle_Carey_de_Concha_%285840602412%29.jpg>

Cartographer: Amy Vasquez

Class: Introduction to Geographic Information Systems

Date: May 9th, 2017

Coordinate System: GCS_Nor th_Amer ican_1983

Projection: D_Nor th_Amer ican_1983

Data Sources:

AmericanFact Finder

US Census

SWOT

ReferenceUSA

Sea Turtle Vulnerability in Puerto Rico Tourism

Sea Level Rise

Light Pollution as Population

Fishing

Hawksbill

Green Turtle

Leatherback