The Fisheries Department has officially recognised 8-year-old Shazri Pierrot, who organised a hawksbill hatchling rescue at Anse Galet Beach, carrying about 30 struggling baby turtles to the sea.
During a brief ceremony at Tapion School, where Shazri attends, Fisheries Biologist Yvonne Edwin thanked him on Friday.
Edwin then presented the youngster with a gift of brochures about sea turtles and marine life.
The Fisheries Department representative explained that Shazri’s hatchling rescue was precisely the necessary awareness the department wanted to achieve.
“This is an ideal example of what we want from the public in reporting and assisting to help the turtles, because, as we know, some of these species are endangered, and it is through our human interaction, it is through what we do in helping to save them and ensuring and giving them that chance of survival, is what we want from students and the general public,” she said.
Edwin noted that the turtle nesting season runs from March to the end of November, and sea turtle fishing is currently closed.
She encouraged people to report any sea turtle sightings on the beach.
“We do have a number of posters posted around the beaches in Saint Lucia asking you to report those turtle activities and become a turtle trooper, just like the student,” she stated.
For his part, Shazri Pierrott recounted his action to rescue the turtle hatchlings while he was at the beach with his family.
“When I was in the water, I saw some turtles trying to go to the sea, struggling and reptiles and Seabirds were eating them, so I decided to help them, to go to the sea and dug holes to pick them up and to bring them to the sea.”
Shazri’s schoolmate, Azari Ezekiel, lamented that humans have disturbed the nesting process of turtles because of improper garbage disposal.
As a result, Azari appealed to citizens not to dump garbage indiscriminately.
“Sometimes, when a turtle is laying, people kill the turtle while it is vulnerable, and sometimes (they) throw trash onto the turtle’s nest without knowing it’s a total nest because they’re on the ground” he said.
“So, I just wanted to tell people to try to not dump trash on the beach, because these beautiful marine reptiles are swimming in our oceans and seas, and we need them to stay on our island so they can thrive and live here in peace,” the young student told St. Lucia Times.
According to the Fisheries Department, of the seven remaining turtle species in the world, four visit Saint Lucia’s shores to nest between March and November annually.
They are loggerheads, hawksbills , leatherbacks and green turtles.
