Wayne Sentman is a biologist who has been constantly expanding his knowledge of marine ecosystems. Having studied marine mammals and Seabirds in Africa, Midway Atoll, Alaska and the Sea of Cortez, Suriname provided Wayne with a unique opportunity to investigate a variety of Sea turtles and their nesting beaches. His field work there was sponsored by the Oceanic Society.

His images are from the Galibi Nature Reserve in Suriname, one of the world's last strongholds for nesting Leatherback sea turtles. The Suriname government has taken actions to protect this critical nesting habitat, and it is working with the local Amerindian populations to promote conservation of the sea turtles found there.

All seven species of the world's sea turtles are endangered. Threats to them include marine debris, longline fishing, pollution, and harvesting eggs from nesting sites and from live adults at sea. Leatherack, Green, Olive Ridley, and Hawksbill sea turtles nest on the beaches of Suriname.

Female sea turtles haul-out onto these beaches during the night and dig nest cups in the sand where they can lay up to 200 eggs. Leatherback in particular may aly eggs as many as eight times during the nesting season. After 50-to-60 days these eggs hatch an baby sea turtles find their way back to the ocean to begin their lives. It may take certain species 20-to-30 years to reach sexual maturity. When they do, they return to the beaches where they were born to breed and nest and begin the cycle all over again. Sea turtles may live to be eighty to a hundred years old.

With the last few years seeing a rise in Leatherback nests on the beachs of Suriname, it remains a vital conservation zone. Oceanic Society and other conservation groups work with the Suriname government to help monitor the status of the sea turtle populations in the Galibi Reserve. It is hoped that through monitoring nesting numbers and hatching success that effective management actions can be taken; and that the information gathered will help in educating individuals both locally and internationally so that this area remans protected long into the future.

You can see Wayne's images from Galibi Nature Reserve in the following galleries.