Cayman Islands Turtle Farm

There is only one farm which is devoted to the rearing of Green sea turtles and that is the Turtle farm on Grand Cayman.

It is an appropriate place to have a farm like this in a place like this. Columbas called the islands 'Las Tortugas' because there were so many turtles in the seas surrounding them. Sadly, mainly because of man's deprivations, turtles are by no means so numerous.

The idea of a turtle farm started to come to life in 1968 when a marine biologist managed to interest people in the potential of commercial and conservational aspect of farming turtles. Eggs gathered in various places in the Caribbean were brought to Cayman where they were hatched in an area which had been created to be as much like the turtles' natural environment as possible. Partially-grown turtles were being released into Cayman waters as early as 1978.

The Turtle Farm provides the local market with turtle meat and it also provides the seas around Cayman with young turtles.

There are a number of huge breeding males and females, which have access to sandy beaches in which the eggs can be laid and buried. The eggs are later removed and placed in incubators, where they are carefully hatched. The baby turtles are placed in tanks where they grow quite quickly, being moved from tank to tank as they grow until they reach the age and size at which they can be eaten or released.

About 3000 a year are used for meat. The shells of these are used for jewellery and decoration and the sales of these goods helps to maintain the other part of the work, the releasing of at least 4000 young turtles into their natural habitat. (Perhaps the loss of trade in these artifacts brought about by the blanket ban of the importation of such goods by the United States could have the opposite effect to the desired one. Loss of income could lead to a lessening of the number of turtles released.)

The farm is well worth a visit. It is open from 9am to 5am seven days a week and the US$5.00 admission fee for adults helps to support the venture.

You can follow the life cycle of the turtle from the egg to the steak (or, if you are squeamish, from the egg back to the sea.) There is even a tank where you are welcome to pick up a live turtle - just the kind of thing to photograph to show off at home.

Visit the Cayman Islands Turtle Farm Official Homepage www.turtle.ky