Falilaka Island Hadra:
A Menace For Dwindling Biodiversity?
As part of the Kuwait Turtle Conservation Project and following reports of our Kuwaiti team members that “there were turtles in the waters around Failaka Island”, we ventured there on the weekend of November 6th in order to scout for turtle presence on the island and integrate our findings to our sea turtle research and conservation work, sponsored by TOTAL Foundation and TOTAL Kuwait and under the auspices of the Voluntary Work Center Kuwait and the Scientific Center of Kuwait.
Failaka Island lies twenty kilometers east of Kuwait City and fifty kilometers from the southernmost tip of Iraq. Its area is approximately twenty-four square kilometers. It is triangular in shape with its base in the west and head in the southeast. It is fourteen kilometers in length and its breadth varies between eight kilometers in the west and two in the east. The island is flat, apart from a small hill thirty feet high in the extreme western part. Hellenistic ruins have been discovered on the island, along with Dilmun ruins from 5,000 BC and excavations are still ongoing by Kuwaiti and Western archaeologists.
A resort exists on the island, promoting Kuwaiti heritage and biodiversity in a very dedicated and professional way. The facility is run by Mr. and Mrs. Hartley on behalf of Masharee Al Khair Charity of Kuwait. Generous hospitality was offered to KTCP members who enthusiastically recommend it to anyone interested in a very high quality stay in Failaka, during which a lot can be learned about the country and the island even if the visitor does not leave the resort at all.
Combining a desert inland and contoured by vast amounts of tidal mudflats, Failaka is not, as it turns out, a nesting stronghold for turtles. KTCP team members, mainly involved with turtle nesting areas on Qaru and Umm Al-Maradim islets in the south of Kuwait, toured the perimeter of the Island looking for tracks, old or new nests and any other possible evidence of turtle presence on the beaches but found nothing, except for a suspected old turtle nesting area, surprisingly situated next to the dock of the ferry boat. But Green (Chelonia mydas) and Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) turtles come to the shallows close to the coast to either forage or mate, and there they often perish, unfortunately not due to some natural process, but because they get trapped in a hadra.
A hadra is a coastal fish trap, traditional to Kuwait and to some other Arabian Gulf countries. It entails setting up a barrier of reeds around a limited area off the coast. At the end of the barrier, an enclosure made of two parts is erected. The bigger part is called “Al Housh”, followed by a smaller one called “Al Ser”, which lies at the limits of ebb tides. There are many hadras constructed along the seashores of Failaka Island, in past years all along the shores of mainland Kuwait as well. During low tides, fishermen collect fish, which are trapped in the hadra. KTCP members were told by locals that turtles often get caught in there and are often harvested for food by fishermen, who are mostly unaware of these animals’ worldwide protection status. Rays, sharks, seabirds and small dolphins – resident populations of Spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) and Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa plumbea) seem to be part of the island’s marine wildlife – often get caught in the hadras as well, dying a slow and purposeless death only to be discarded as “useless” by the fishermen who are interested in what are considered “edible fish”.
The geographical area of the island and Kuwait in general has suffered major ecological disasters, such as the massive oil spills following the Gulf War of 1990, the fires of the oil wells set by invading Iraqi forces and currently the raw sewage crisis which began in September 2009 and is ongoing, with unknown consequences on the marine environment of the country.
Ten years ago, hadras were common all along the coastline of Kuwait but acknowledging the severe damage on marine wildlife the government banned them by law. Nowadays, special permits are needed for owning hadras and the population has been discouraged from using them. Very few are being encountered now on the mainland. But Failaka island and nearby islet Miskan are exempted from this law and KTCP team members encountered fifteen on Failaka and six on Miskan. Kuwait is a wealthy Gulf country where professional and recreational fishing are very popular. Most of it is exercised sustainably, with the seventy government shrimp trawlers operating their nets using TEDs (Turtle Excluder Devices), true pioneers of this practice in the region.
With the marine environment under such stress in the Gulf and in Kuwait itself, it is hoped that the practice of hadra or any unsustainable fishing practice shall soon be abandoned, giving wildlife the chance it deserves in regenerating and surviving the many existing trials of life the trying waters of the Gulf are ensuring for them. Government and NGOs should cooperate and raise an awareness campaign preceding an eventual legal and institutional framework to address this serious issue.
Kuwait Turtle Nesting Season 2009:
Low and Challenging
It has been a challenging monitoring season for the Kuwait Turtle Conservation Project (www.kuwaitturtles.com). Kick-started in July 2008 under sponsorship of TOTAL Foundation and TOTAL Kuwait, in close cooperation with the Voluntary Work Center Kuwait (especially its active Senyar team) as well as The Scientific Center of Kuwait, KTCP sent its international teams of researchers, turtling apprentices and volunteers to Qaru and Umm Al-Maradim islands. The team missions were carried out in regular intervals in the last six months in order to learn more about turtles in the country who seem to mainly prefer the sandy beaches of these tiny islets for nesting every year. Unlike last year, a “scouting” year of investigation, this year more gear was packed in the team’s luggage, including satellite transmitters (Kiwisat), flipper tags and temperature and humidity measuring i-buttons.
In order to responsibly mark the beginning of the nesting season, teams began visiting the islands as early as March 2009 and their most recent field trip was carried out in the beginning of October. Monitoring was done with dedication and discipline, the teams working on land and in the water, sometimes around the clock with little or no sleep, all members sharing the same determination of deciphering the turtles’ foraging, mating, nesting and hatching habits on the islets as well as the careful description of their beach and marine ecosystems.
A lot of information about the marine ecosystems encompassing the islands was obtained, with vibrant reefs hosting more than 87 fish species (many of which spawning as we established in our numerous underwater explorations and from the sight of many species’ juvenile individuals) as well as many crustaceans and invertebrates which shall hopefully be described in following articles. Umm Al-Maradim was revealed as a spot of importance for birdlife, as in the end of March more than 45 bird species were spotted and photographed on its 65 hectares of surface. Oil seeps were commonly observed from the seabed in Qaru Island this year, the sea life seeming unaffected by it. Sand temperatures were on average lower than last year, maximums measured by noon not over 50 degrees Celsius and unlike last year, humidity levels reached up to 75% in August.
The turtles did not come in high numbers. Nine pits of Hawksbill turtles were discovered in Umm Al-Maradim island from mid-May till the end of June. Then, after a long pause of three months, researchers discovered another pit, which was probably a nest, in October. As suspected since last year, Hawksbills in Kuwait seem to have two nesting seasons, an “early” and a “late” one, at least in Umm Al-Maradim. Because this year and unlike last, Hawksbills nested in Qaru island as well. Nesting season here began in the end of May and continued throughout the month of June with eleven pits in Qaru. In both Qaru and Umm Al-Maradim, none of the Hawksbills was seen nesting by the team. With the cooperation of the Coast Guard, however, some photos and a video were shown to the team, clearly demonstrating Hawksbill turtles nesting. Further proof of Hawksbills nesting in Qaru was given to KTCP in both July and August, with one dead Hawksbill hatchling found respectively on different beach areas during morning surveys. As no nesting females were encountered throughout the nesting season, no satellite transmitters were attached and Green turtles were to be attempted to satellite tag during their own nesting season on Qaru island. An adult male Hawksbill was encountered in near shore waters in Qaru in both July and August, seemingly foraging. It was the same animal both times, as photography has revealed.
Unlike last year, when the team suspected a Green turtle nest on Umm Al-Maradim, no such evidence arose this year. All pits were small and clearly Hawksbill-like and the familiar, large and deep Green turtle pits made their appearance only on Qaru island in the first few days of July. The numbers of females remained low, and though often seen by night shift workers swimming in the shallows, for a series of nights they (or she) seemed reluctant to emerge on to the beach. This was not the case last year, when on one night five turtles emerged almost at the same time and attempted to nest.
The small number of eleven pits was the balance of the Green turtle nesting season in Qaru, most probably the only area in Kuwait where Green turtles nest. One turtle was repeatedly encountered by the team during the early August mission. It was flipper tagged and satellite tagged, and three i-buttons were inserted in its nest. Unfortunately, the satellite transmitter fell off the carapace of the turtle sooner than expected so its migrations were not followed to the disappointment of the team.
As a result, and despite the continuous efforts of KTCP team members, the turtles were monitored but not flipper or satellite tagged to the desired extent. Hatching information about the marked Green turtle nest of August 15th is hopefully to be provided soon, when the nest is dug out by researchers and the i-buttons retrieved.
In the following four months, the team shall continue carrying out its Kuwait environmental education presentations to local schools. So far the teachers’ community has responded to the team’s offer with enthusiasm, in both government and private schools. The team has also explored Failaka Island for potential nesting grounds, following reports of local population about sightings of turtles in both water and land. The team did not discover clear nesting grounds there, but made the sad discovery that turtles are sometimes consumed for food. They also get caught in “hadra”, tidal fish traps banned elsewhere in Kuwait. KTCP is planning on campaigning for the ban of “hadra” everywhere in Kuwait and the application of strict mainland fisheries legislation to Failaka island as well.
The turtles of Kuwait are still here. The next nesting season is approaching fast, and the team is ready to continue its efforts.
KTCP: Birth of a Project
The Kuwait Turtle Conservation Project, launched in June 2008, is a common 3-year effort of TOTAL Foundation for Biodiversity and the Sea, TOTAL Kuwait, The Voluntary Work Center Kuwait and The Scientific Center of Kuwait. Integrated in the VWC’s SINIAR project for the protection of the marine environment in Kuwait, the main goals of KTCP are enhancing awareness and knowledge regarding endangered sea turtles in the country, studying/assessing their populations on the offshore islands Qaru and Umm Al-Maradim, studying the state of the marine and coastal areas they are in, conducting environmental information and education targeting groups of stakeholders concerned and considering possible contribution to the legislative and institutional framework of sea turtle conservation in the country.
