Sea Turtle Population Thriving on Ile Plate: A Conservation Success in Seychelles

Seychelles declared protective status for sea turtles in 1994. Despite conservation efforts to prevent exploitation and consumption, their numbers have dwindled on the Inner Islands. However, on the Outer Islands, such as Ile Plate, the sea turtle population is not just surviving – it’s thriving.
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Of the two species of sea turtles that nest in Seychelles, the Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as critically endangered globally, has seen a remarkable recovery. In 2024, a milestone of 317 nests and over 600 hatchlings were recorded on Ile Plate alone. The Green sea turtle population on the outer islands has also flourished, with impressive nesting numbers throughout the year. Thanks to the dedicated conservation efforts of the Islands Conservation Society (ICS) and its partners, Ile Plate has become a sanctuary for these remarkable creatures, where sightings are a daily occurrence.

It’s a turtle!
​Every day at dawn, the ICS conservation team led by Diary and Saddiqua patrols the pristine beaches of Ile Plate, recording sightings and documenting sea turtle tracks. These tracks provide vital information, allowing the team to identify the species estimate the number of nesting females emerging on Ile Plate, and determine whether eggs have been laid. An unsuccessful egg-laying turtle - which could have been spooked by something or did not find the right spot to lay its egg - would probably come back that same day. After almost 6 months of doing at least 1 hour and 30 minutes -walk around Ile Plate, the excitement of spotting a female turtle nesting has not worn off. On Ile Plate, this can happen once to three times a day and sometimes at night! “We can be having lunch and suddenly someone might spot a turtle nesting. And we will be called in,’ says Diary. When a turtle is spotted nesting, the team swiftly moves into action. They wait for the turtle to complete her nest, then mark the nest with a GPS point and write on the coconut the information necessary, including the number of nests, dates and species. They also tag the turtle if it does not have a metallic tag providing a number, island and country for future identification. If the nest is at risk of being washed away by rising tides, the eggs are carefully relocated to safer ground. The highest number of eggs counted so far was 206 and the minimum was 69. A delicate operation for a team of two that can take 1 hour to 1 hour and a half!

Adding up the score
​From August to December, the team has recorded on average, 17 female turtles of either species nesting in one week or over 68 in one month. The Green turtle nests all year round in Seychelles but only does so at night.  Despite this, in 2024, ICS recorded 22 nests and 139 hatchlings. The nesting season for Hawksbill turtles starts at the end of September and continues until May. In October, the team recorded 57 nests with 8 females coming a second time to lay their eggs in one month. This is not unusual as the team has recorded 7 females laying eggs at least four times and 21 others three times. The team had to intensify their patrols to ensure all nests and emergences were counted and sometimes, even spent a day just monitoring turtles! In November 110 nests were recorded again. In December, 151 nests and almost 600 hatchlings emerged from the nests. A record of 317 Hawksbill nests was logged in 2024, which is 90 nests less than the previous year. By the end of the year, 46 Hawksbill turtles have been tagged on Ile Plate.

The hypothesis
A permanent team of conservationists arrived on Ile Plate in August this year. Before then, the data on sea turtles were collected by visiting conservationists or the staff of Waldorf Astoria or Island Development Company (IDC) on the island. The increase in turtle activity and the number of new turtles tagged in 2024 confirm that Ile Plate is a critical haven for sea turtles. Many of these turtles have not been previously monitored elsewhere in Seychelles, highlighting the unique importance of the island for conservation. So far, the data of 2024, confirms previous suggestions by Conservationists in Seychelles, that Ile Plate could be an important nesting ground for the two sea turtle species. Another 12 months of monitoring by ICS will accentuate this hypothesis and provide more reliable data on both species.
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 Good news for sea turtles
​For visitors to Ile Plate, with its newly opened luxurious Waldorf Astoria hotel, seeing a sea turtle is one of the perks of being on this island. For conservationists, each sighting is a chance to create more awareness of the plight of this species that could go extinct in just a few more years. It is also an opportunity to educate others on the dangers this species faces as they navigate the high sea against pollution, constant poaching, habitat loss, etc. In addition to this, the data on Ile Plate is something for conservationists to boast about. The long-term data adds up to Seychelles’ conservation success in its efforts to protect this species. It also creates the impetus for the monitoring protocols to be duplicated in other islands where sea turtles are not as abundant. The success story of the Ile Plate offers a glimmer of hope for the global standing of both the Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and Hawksbill (Eretomochelys imbricata) suggesting that small, protected ecosystem can help preserve species at risk of extinction.