Bora Bora resort is sanctuary for turtles - and us, too

It may be the only resort in the world with its own colony of an endangered specie.

Hotel guests at Le Meridien Bora Bora can swim with endangered green sea turtles in the resort’s private lagoon - but the hotel’s sea turtle program is about much more than entertaining tourists.

“So far, we have returned more than 500 turtles to the wild,” said Sebastien Goutenegre the marine biologist hired by Le Meridien to direct the program. “That may sound like a lot, but in reality it’s only one teardrop in the ocean.”

Not one of those 500 turtles would be alive today had it not been rescued by the resort.

“We are the only ones in the world who have managed to get babies from dead animals,” Goutenegre said, explaining that many of the turtles raised at the resort were rescued as eggs - harvested from dead mothers.

“We grab their eggs, build nests and put the eggs there,” Goutenegre said. “We do it in front of the villagers, in front of school students. It’s about teaching that turtles and their eggs should be kept safe.”

Cultural divide

Eating turtle meat is part of culture and tradition in French Polynesia. It’s a holdover from historic times when turtles were considered sacred and only the powerful were allowed to eat them - and it was believed they then owned the turtle’s spirit.

Even though sea turtles are now a protected specie and harming them is illegal, poaching continues. “There’s a big black market in the meat,” Goutenegre said. “Sellng the meat from eight or nine big turtles would earn enough money to buy a fishing boat.”

Penalties for poaching are severe. “Boats are taken away and you can spend two to seven years in jail,” Goutenegre said. “But there is no penalty for those who eat the turtle meat.”

So the key is education - especially of the young — and it seems to be working.

“Last year we got a call from a villager who said that her son was hysterical and that he’d begged her to call the hotel to see if we could do anything to help,” said Le Meridien general manager Denis Le Nohaic.

“We went immediately,” Goutenegre recalled. “We found two dead turtles, which had been killed by the boy’s father. But in the belly of one turtle, we found the sack with eggs.

“We collected 200 eggs from that mother and put them in a nest,” the marine biologist said. “We got one turtle that survived from those eggs. That’s better than nature - where only one in 1,000 makes it.”

From the beginning

Le Meridien Bora Bora’s sea turtle sanctuary started quite by accident about 10 years ago when a guest found an injured turtle on a nearby motu and brought it back to the resort’s natural lagoon. Then-GM Pascal Fouquet phoned a sea turtle specialist in Hawaii, and with his help, hotel staff nursed “Oko” back to health.

Word spread. A little more than a year later, 10 rescued turtles were swimming in the resort’s interior lagoon.

But keeping sea turtles is illegal in French Polynesia - so in 2002 the government made the turtle center at Le Méridien official. The hotel received governmental grants and it hired a marine biologist to manage the program.

Success has bred more success: The Chelonia Polynesia Foundation was started to support the center. (Chelonia is the scientific name for turtles and tortoises.) Major support has come from the French utility giant GDF Suez, which donated money for an environmental center expected to open on the property in June. In addition to turtle research, scientists at the center will monitor whales and grow coral.

Public participation

Every day at 10 a.m., hotel guests mingle with villagers and students who come to learn about the program and watch Goutenegre feed the 23 turtles currently living in the hotel’s lagoon.

“No feet in the water, ” Goutenegre warns, before he begins tossing greens and fresh tuna into the lagoon. “Especially no toes in the water with red polish. The turtles could think that is the tuna and bite.”

In a flash, toes are out of the water.

“They’re called green sea turtles because their body fat is green,” Goutenegre speaks softly, as he feeds. “It’s green because as they mature, they become vegetarians.”

More food, more lessons from Goutenegre:

“Sea turtles live to be 80 to 90 years old; tortoises live to be 250. Tortoises have legs and can hide in their tough shells; sea turtles have flippers, no legs - and can’t hide their heads and flippers in their shells.

“The odds for survival are against sea turtles: They aren’t sexually mature until they’re 25 to 30 years old. Then mating season happens once every three years - and lasts only 15 days. The mothers nest on the ocean side of motus - which are increasingly being developed. Incubation takes two months.

“When the eggs hatch, baby turtles weigh about 15 grams - and have soft, black shells. For their first year of life, they float - perfect little morsels for birds and sharks.  Only one in 1,000 will reach adult size.”

Adoption program

Goutenegre explains that the program’s sea turtles remain in Le Meridien’s lagoon until they are about three years old - and have proven they can hunt on their own.

“We will release five or six after Christmas,” he said. “We wait until after Christmas, because that’s the prime poaching season. Eight to 10 tons of turtle meat is taken every year.”

Students from local schools will be there when the turtles are tagged and released. Some youngsters will choose to adopt a turtle - and receive adoption papers, with their turtle’s name and tag number.

“We tell them, ‘If you see this turtle in 20 years, know it is yours - don’t kill it,’” Goutenegre said.

“By staying here, guests are supporting the program,” said Le Nohaic. “About $15 from each guest goes directly to the turtle program.”

“It’s part of the reason we chose to stay here,” said Andrea Laregina, from Hudson County, NJ.  “We did a lot of research before coming - and this sounded just right for us.”

Said her husband, Christopher Laregina: “It’s amazing when you’re in there swimming with the turtles; they just fly through the water. These big lumbering turtles are so graceful. It’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced before.”

Alison DaRosa is SDNN travel editor. Email: alison.darosa (at) sdnn.com

IF YOU GO

Getting there: Air Tahiti Nui offers flights from Los Angeles to Bora Bora, via Tahiti. Check out current packages at www.airtahitinui-usa.com.

Staying there: Le Meridien Bora Bora currently is offering over-water bungalows for about $800 per night, with the fifth night free. Check out other packages at www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien.

More info: Learn more about Le Meridien’s turtle sanctuary at www.boraboraturtles.com.

Get more info on travel in French Polynesia at www.tahiti-tourisme.com.

Tags: Bora Bora, Chelonia Polynesia, Denis Le Nohaic, ecological, eggs, environmental, french polynesia, GDF Suez, green sea turtles, hatch, lagoon, Le Meridien Bora Bora, poaching, SDNN, Sebastien Goutenegre, tortoises, turtles

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