Sea Turtle Recovery Action Plan for St. Kitts and Nevis - WIDECAST

St. Kitts and Nevis Sea Turtles…
Division of Conservation Enforcement to enforce all aspects of environmental law, including the
conservation and management of species (see section 4.24).
3.5 Other Natural or Man-made Factors
It is not uncommon for beaches to experience severe erosion after tropical storms, such as
occurred at Pinneys Beach (Nevis) and Sandy Point Beach (St. Kitts) after Hurricane Klaus in
1984 (Wilkins and Barrett, 1987). Towle et al. (1986) document severe coastal erosion of
Southeast Peninsula beaches, particularly the channel beaches, during Hurricanes Frederick and
David in 1979 and Klaus in 1984. Residents often credit Hurricane Klaus with the loss of
several nesting beaches on the Caribbean coast of St. Kitts, from Old Road Bay to Garvey's Bay.
These are comprised of cobbles today and no longer support nesting. Cambers (1989a) reported
significant damage done to potentially important nesting beaches by Hurricane Hugo. At
Pinneys Beach, she documented 4-8 m erosion in the southern portion (and the loss of many
palm trees) and >15 m erosion to the north near Golden Rock Beach Bar which was destroyed in
the storm. Huge amounts of debris were left on nesting beaches at Cade's Bay and Mosquito
Bay. Overall, Hurricane Hugo resulted in the average loss of 45% of the area of west coast
beaches on Nevis (Cambers, 1989b).
Cambers (1989b) stated that the "serious nature of the erosion on the west and north coast
beaches cannot be over-emphasised. Data exist for one site at Pinneys Beach which show that
between 1983 and 1989 the high water mark retreated inland some 19 m, this represents an
erosion rate of some 3 m (10 ft) per year." In a follow-up study, she reported that the average
beach width in St. Kitts declined 2.5 m (8 ft) per year between August 1989 and December 1992,
mostly as a result of the loss of the Dieppe Spit to Hurricane Hugo. Had the spit remained intact,
however, the annual loss would still have averaged 0.8 m (2.6 ft). Even this lower rate
represents a dramatic loss compared to other rates throughout the region (Cambers, 1992).
d'Arbeau (1989) reported severe erosion at Major's Bay, a significant hawksbill nesting site on
the Southeast Peninsula, which "created a formidable barrier to any turtle attempting to reach
land" on the northern end of the sandy beach in mid-1989. She also noted the accumulation of
garbage, especially on the windward (Atlantic) beaches of the peninsula, beach scarring by
vehicle traffic, and the removal of vegetation which may limit nesting sites for hawksbills.
Vehicles driven on beaches is a problem, notably at Sand Bank Bay, St. Kitts. Signs
requesting that vehicles not operate on the beach have not been effective. Specific public
education is required in this regard. Riding horses on some beaches, such as Newcastle and
Pinneys, may also have a negative effect on sea turtle nests by crushing eggs and hatchlings.
Evening campfires, especially common at Banana and Cockleshell bays, may inhibit nesting. On
both islands, small beach fires (such as smoke fires to repel insects) are occasionally seen. There
is no evidence that these negatively impact sea turtles, but beach fires should be monitored to
prevent large blazes that may destroy incubating eggs or disorient adult or hatchling turtles. An
unquantified number of hatchlings are collected as pets for children each year (see Appendix I).
This poses a direct threat to the survival of sea turtle populations.
Tar balls are very common on the Atlantic beaches of St. Kitts and less so on the channel
beaches. Deforestation at Paradise in 1991 caused considerable erosion and siltation of the near-
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