In the world’s oceans, sea turtles have been swimming for over 100M years. These days, sea turtles are highly endangered by international and national classifications. Around 4 of the 7 sea turtle species may be seen within the waters around the US Virgin Islands: loggerheads, leatherbacks, greens, as well as hawksbills. The greens, hawksbill, and leatherback sea turtles are well-known to nest upon the St. John beaches. The loggerheads are extremely rare but have been seen.
Hawksbills comprise the majority of our St. John nests. While those sea turtles nest all year long, the peak of their nesting season runs from August all the way to November. Within that time, the sea turtles will go back to their natal beaches and then deposit from three to five nests at 14-day time intervals. Every nest contains 80 to 200 ping-pong-shaped eggs, incubating for about 55 to 75 days. In addition, leatherback sea turtles have been well-known to nest on St. John. As a matter of fact, Trunk Bay received its name after the big ‘trunk-like’ turtles that use the region as a nesting ground.
Reef Surfari is proud to partner with Friends of Virgin Islands National Parks in order to support the goal of advocating for the Virgin Islands’ cultural and natural treasures. We are requesting your help by booking one of Reef Surfari’s snorkeling adventures!
All you have to do is just select which program you’d like to help while booking your snorkeling trip. Then Ocean Surfari/Reef Surfari will happily donate $5 to the Friends of Virgin Islands National Parks program.
Visiting Virgin Islands National Park?
Your generous donation will aid the Turtle Monitoring & Protection Program’s mission to facilitate research projects, protect sea turtle nests, in addition to spreading awareness of sea turtle conservation in US Virgin Islands National Park and its surrounding waters, which includes the US Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument.
As you book, you’ll have an option of which program you’d like to support. Again, choosing Turtles means Reef Surfari/Ocean Surfari will donate $5 to the Friends of the Park’s Turtle preservation program.
Are you looking for things to do in Virgin Islands National Park? Ocean Surfari offers several Virgin Islands National Park snorkeling packages. Get in touch with us today at (340) 202-0444.
