UPDATE 2026
GOOD NEWS
In 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 we have decided to play an active role in protecting endangered sea turtles by adopting a turtle nest. Today we received a nice message from Floor van Schalkwijk.
Friday, February 27, 2026
During this morning’s nest patrol, our field team excavated the final nest on Klein Bonaire. It was not only the last, but also the largest nest of the season, with a total of 215 (!) eggs. Unfortunately, the nest was infertile, so no hatchlings emerged. Nevertheless, we can confidently say that the 2025 nesting season was highly successful. With 149 confirmed nests, it was a record-breaking year. A total of 11,641 hatchlings safely emerged from these nests, including 5,857 from our adopted nests. It was a year full of milestones and records. It was also remarkable that this was the first year in which all three species (green turtle, hawksbill turtle, and loggerhead turtle) nested in Washington Slagbaai National Park. In the coming months, we will focus on in-water surveys along Bonaire’s west coast to collect biometric data from our foraging sea turtle population. These surveys take place on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays through the end of April. After that, we will begin preparations for the next nesting season, which is expected to start in May. We look forward to the upcoming season and hope it will be just as successful as the past year!
Floor van Schalkwijk
Communications & Fund Development Officer Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
"We have great news about your nest. During our nest patrol on Klein Bonaire, we found a beautiful nest depression with small turtle tracks (see attached photo). Surprisingly, the nest was not laid by a hawksbill turtle as expected, but by a loggerhead turtle. Nature continues to surprise us. It was a successful nest with 109 baby turtles that safely emerged from the nest. This was a very successful nest with a success rate of no less than 97.3%. In addition to the photo of the nest depression and turtle tracks, there's a photo of the empty nest chamber with the empty eggs. When opening the nest, we count the number of empty eggshells in piles of 10. Each empty eggshell represents a baby turtle that safely emerged from the nest. You will also find in the attachment the nest summary with all the information. We wish all these little ones the very best of luck with their great adventure on the open sea and hope to see some of them return to Bonaire someday.
Meanwhile, we are past the busiest point of our nesting season and from now on we will mainly see nests hatching. We have been able to confirm over 100 nests and more than 5,000 baby turtles have already found their way to the sea. Hopefully many more little ones will join them in the coming period. We want to thank you tremendously for all your support for Bonaire's sea turtles.."
Floor van Schalkwijk
Communications & Fund Development Officer Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire
Monday, September 2, 2024
"I hope all is well with you. This week we saw that your nest hatched! As expected, the nest was laid by a loggerhead turtle. A total of 93 baby sea turtles hatched from the nest. Some of them were still in the nest when we opened the nest. Of course we made sure that they could also go to sea safely. With a hatching rate of 89%, it was a very successful nest. We hope to see some of these little ones back on Bonaire one day. We want to thank you very much for all your support for the sea turtles of Bonaire".
Floor van Schalkwijk
Communications & Fund Development Officer Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire
We are a proud sponsor of Sea Turtle Conservation Bonaire