It was the night before graduation and on Tank Beach when not a creature was stirring except for a turtle.
Kagman High School Marine Biology Club members received an early graduation gift on the evening of June 15 when the sea turtle they named Limwamway which means beautiful in Carolinian, came onshore to nest.
The club’s advisor and KagHS biology teacher Annette Pladevega was alerted of the turtle’s presence by Division of Fish and Wildlife Sea Turtle Program staff and soon students were looking on at the sea turtle with wide eyes and shrieks of shock at the sheer size of this turtle.
The group of students said they had never witnessed a nesting turtle on Saipan in their lives; some had observed smaller juveniles swimming in the near-shore waters, but not one this large.
The KagHS Marine Biology club was formed by students with a desire to help the environment through community service. They have participated in activities such as beach clean-ups in the past, but this was their first experience with sea turtle conservation.
Club member Rita Taitano had this to say about helping the Division of Fish and Wildlife Sea Turtle Program that evening.
“I think that everybody should get involved in activities like this; it’s a life-learning experience. It’s actually really interesting and fun to do. I’m glad I’m here,” she said.
Limwamway was the third and final turtle to be fitted this season with a satellite tag which will track her movements during her long ocean voyage.
DFW Sea Turtle Program staff will track her to better understand her behavior and will hopefully determine where the turtle’s foraging grounds are.
The KagHS students will also be keeping tabs on their turtle’s movements and her hatchlings well-being on Tank Beach long after graduation celebrations are over through weekly updates on www.ihaggan.com.
In fact, when club members were informed by DLNR Sea Turtle Program staff that Limwamway’s second nest had been poached and the eggs missing, they were very upset. There is currently a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of sea turtle poachers in the CNMI, please call the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement at 671-472-7200 for further information.
