2021 PROJECT SUMMARY
B Y K E L L Y S T E W A R T , P R O J E C T D I R E C T O R
Although green and hawksbill sea turtles nest all year round at Sandy Point, our intensive research starts in March, with the arrival of the leatherbacks. These 900 lb mommas have traveled long distances to return home for nesting. This year we encountered 27 individual nesters, with the oldest one being Rosie, who was first tagged back in
1999! She still carried the flipper tag she was given - PPQ244. She has nested over 50 times at Sandy Point! She was adopted by Nancy Byrnes.
LEATHERBACK
98
GREEN
1,075
HAWKSBILL
230
We saw many familiar turtle faces, including many of the turtles that
our supporters have adopted. We also tagged 52 green turtles, and 9
hawksbills this year. The oldest green turtle was Happy (adopted by
Sally Hewitt), first tagged in 2003 and the oldest hawksbill was Yesca
from 2010 (adopted by the Grahams). In October and November, it's all
about the hatchlings as our green and hawksbill nests are hatching!
A popular addition to the refuge entrance was our sea turtle nest count
sign. We updated it daily all year for our three sea turtle species!
ST. CROIX YOUTH
OPPORTUNITIES
The Youth Conservation
Corps (YCC) Program through
the US Fish and Wildlife
Service provides students with
the opportunity to earn
money while gaining hands on
experience in wildlife biology
through working at Sandy
Point for the summer.
Jahsendi Simmonds and Yaira Ortiz were YCC students in 2021, along with supervisor Dante Trivett. They worked on sea turtle surveys and tagging, trail maintenance, tended the greenhouse, responded to sea turtle emergencies and were invaluable members of our resource management team!
Jahsendi Simmonds and Yaira Ortiz were YCC students in 2021, along with supervisor Dante Trivett. They worked on sea turtle surveys and tagging, trail maintenance, tended the greenhouse, responded to sea turtle emergencies and were invaluable members of our resource management team!
Students interested in applying
for 2022 should get in touch with
refuge staff at Sandy Point.
TURTLE WATCH
Year 25! Turtle Watch provides
an immersive program to learn
about nesting and hatching
leatherbacks. We hosted 314
participants from 27 community
groups at Sandy Point during
June and July!
SEA TURTLE
SCIENTIST
New in 2021! Sea Turtle
Scientist provides a close look
at the work our team does
every day out on the refuge by
observing a nest excavation,
where hatch success is
determined for hatched green
and hawksbill nests. Twelve
groups, and 176 participants
attended during October.
OUTREACH & EDUCATION
B Y H A L E Y J A C K S O N , O U T R E A C H C O O R D I N A T O R
Supporting the staff at Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge, we hosted
a variety of outreach events and educational opportunities for the
community of St. Croix. A focus on youth and children is a priority!
We ran two beach cleanups during the summer, participating in the International Coastal Cleanup (Coastweeks). These events brought our volunteers and community members together to clean nearly 70 lbs of trash from St. Croix beaches! In 2022 please look out for more of these cleanup events at beaches around the island and at Sandy Point.
We ran two beach cleanups during the summer, participating in the International Coastal Cleanup (Coastweeks). These events brought our volunteers and community members together to clean nearly 70 lbs of trash from St. Croix beaches! In 2022 please look out for more of these cleanup events at beaches around the island and at Sandy Point.
Participants in the Sandy Point Sea Turtle
Education Program received these fantastic
educational worksheets. They were made by
Haley Jackson (as her Duke University Master's
thesis) to be specific to St. Croix. They are
available free of charge to St. Croix schools and
teachers courtesy of Sandy Point! To request
copies for your classrooms, please email us!
sandypoint.turtlewatch@gmail.com
TRACKING LEATHERBACKS
A M A Z I N G T R A V E L S A R O U N D T H E C A R I B B E A N
In 2020, we began to satellite track leatherbacks, in collaboration with
the New England Aquarium and Amigos de las Tortugas Marinas
(ATMAR) in Maunabo, Puerto Rico. Our goal is to understand more
about leatherback nesting site choices, as populations in the Caribbean
have been declining. This work complements our genetics research
looking at family relationships (moms and daughters) and survival and
recruitment of the hatchlings. We can also figure out the dads from the
genetic profiles and build extensive family trees for our leatherbacks!
We have now tracked 11 leatherbacks on their journeys around the Caribbean and north to their foraging areas!
We have now tracked 11 leatherbacks on their journeys around the Caribbean and north to their foraging areas!
One of the amazing tracks from 2021 was Spot. She nested three times
in St. Croix, before heading off to Antigua, where she nested twice
more. After that, she traveled to the Gulf of Mexico (off New Orleans),
where she remained all summer into fall. Most of our leatherbacks head
to Canadian waters, but not Spot! She's the first to venture to the Gulf!
Three Sandy Point leatherbacks are still going.. Carol, Mona & Sunshine!
You can see all the tracks of our satellite tagged leatherbacks online at STXTurtles.com, then go to Tracking. Maps are published live daily and are free to access. Sponsorships are welcome of course!
Three Sandy Point leatherbacks are still going.. Carol, Mona & Sunshine!
You can see all the tracks of our satellite tagged leatherbacks online at STXTurtles.com, then go to Tracking. Maps are published live daily and are free to access. Sponsorships are welcome of course!
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT
Two of our amazing volunteers
are Donna Boles (left) and Dante
Trivett (right). They help with
absolutely everything at Sandy
Point! Experts at keeping an eye
on the hawksbill population,
they carefully record every crawl
they come across. Donna's
artistic contributions to the
Frederiksted community and
Dante's willingness to learn
every aspect of resource
management, make them
incredibly valuable team
members at the refuge!
ADOPT A TURTLE
& NAME HER!
Turtle adoptions make a perfect
gift! For a $100 donation to the
project, choose a leatherback,
green, or hawksbill turtle, and
name her! Each adopted turtle
is a uniquely tagged individual
nesting at Sandy Point. When
your turtle is seen by our team,
you'll be notified! Nesting
summaries are posted at the
end of the year. Once named,
that unique turtle will remain
'yours' and we'll let you know
when she returns in future
years! See STXTurtles.com for
more details!
OUR MIGHTY VOLUNTEERS!
Volunteers are an integral part of the sea turtle conservation work at
Sandy Point! They spend many hours walking beaches identifying sea
turtle crawls, assisting with educational programs, helping with
maintenance projects around the refuge, and lending a hand whenever
needed. In all, during 2021, volunteers spent over 1,500 hours patrolling
Sandy Point and other St. Croix beaches, recording over 7,000 sea
turtle activities! 
The work we do at Sandy Point would not be possible
without their support.If you'd like to sign up to be notified of any
volunteer opportunities that come up from time to time, please visit
STXTurtles.com and click on the volunteer link!
Thanks to our volunteers for their hard work and dedication!
Thanks to our volunteers for their hard work and dedication!
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
MAKAYLA KELSO.
University of the Virgin
Islands (Masters).
"Conducting my thesis work focusing on hawksbills at Sandy Point was such an incredible experience! I am so grateful for the opportunity to get hands on experience working alongside refuge staff, other visiting researchers, and local volunteers. Studying sea turtles has long been a dream of mine, and I am so lucky to get to follow my passions at Sandy Point and be a part of the amazing conservation efforts there!"
Makayla is studying the historical nesting trends within the refuge of the Critically Endangered hawksbill turtle. She is supported by the St. Croix Sea Turtle Project, US Fish and Wildlife, NOAA's MTGP, the National Save the Sea Turtle Foundation, and our many generous donors!
"Conducting my thesis work focusing on hawksbills at Sandy Point was such an incredible experience! I am so grateful for the opportunity to get hands on experience working alongside refuge staff, other visiting researchers, and local volunteers. Studying sea turtles has long been a dream of mine, and I am so lucky to get to follow my passions at Sandy Point and be a part of the amazing conservation efforts there!"
Makayla is studying the historical nesting trends within the refuge of the Critically Endangered hawksbill turtle. She is supported by the St. Croix Sea Turtle Project, US Fish and Wildlife, NOAA's MTGP, the National Save the Sea Turtle Foundation, and our many generous donors!
HATCHLINGS BY THE NUMBERS!
Sandy Point is an incredible incubator! A whopping
152,105 sea turtle eggs were deposited this year.
Total hatchlings: 108,471. By species below...
LEATHERBACK
4,665
GREEN
81,668
HAWKSBILL
22,138
