ISLA VERDE, PUERTO RICO—Naya, the leatherback sea turtle adopted by the InterContinental San Juan Resort & Casino, is representing the hotel chain and Puerto Rico in the annual Tour de Turtles Migration Marathon, organized by the Caribbean Conservation Corporation. Earlier this month, 11 sea turtles using satellite-tracking technology began competing in a three-month ocean race to become the first turtle to reach a 1,628-mile distance.
Similar to human marathons, each turtle is swimming to raise awareness for a particular “cause” or threat to their survival. This secondary competition, known as Causes Challenge, is designed to see which turtle can generate the most support and awareness for their cause. Naya is swimming to raise awareness about plastic debris marine pollution, which is one of the InterContinental San Juan’s environmental causes. More than 100 million marine animals are killed each year due to plastic debris in the ocean. It is estimated that there are 100 million tons of plastic in oceans around the world.
“Education is important to solving marine pollution,” said Sharon Kilmartin, general manager at the InterContinental San Juan Resort & Casino. “The general public can get involved in this cause by reducing, reusing and recycling plastics, using reusable cloth bags instead of plastic bags when shopping, and by properly securing garbage to prevent any fly-away plastics.”
Website to Track Turtles
A dedicated Web page for each racer (turtle) is available at www.tourdeturtles.org for the general public to read their biographies and learn about their causes. Each turtle’s distance is monitored regularly and updated on a leader board that track’s the turtle’s progress.
In addition to watching the marathon unfold, the general public can support Naya’s cause: plastic debris marine pollution, by sponsoring her on Tour de Turtles through online adoption.
Approximately 80 percent of the plastic debris comes from land. It washes out to sea from our beaches, streets and highways. It flies away from landfills and into the stomachs of sea turtles everywhere.
Plastic bags, bottles, balloons, degraded buoys, packaging materials and food wrappers all contribute to the debris. Many turtles that have been killed by consuming debris had plastic bags or fishing line in their stomachs.
Financial Supporters
The following entities also contributed in technical and financial support: Caribbean Conservation Corporation; MeGotta, Inc.; Disney Animal Programs; Disney’s Vero Beach Resort; Casa Tortuga Foundation; Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay; Arenas Del Pacifico in El Salvador; Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront Hotel; The Academy of Ocean Reef; Florida’s Sea Turtle License Plate; and the University of Central Florida Sea Turtle Research Program.
Naya was adopted by the InterContinental San Juan Resort on June 1 and became the environmental mascot for the resort’s Planet Trekkers Kids Club. Currently, every child who enrolls in Planet Trekkers receives an adoption kit that includes an adoption certificate of Naya, where kids can track her migratory route for an entire year via the Internet.
As part of the adoption process, the InterContinental San Juan conducted a turtle naming contest where the children of Puerto Rico between the ages of four to 12 were able to participate and give Puerto Rico’s adopted leatherback sea turtle a name. The winner was six-year-old Nayelis Betancourt of Carolina who suggested the name Naya, which means Earth.
Go to the InterContinental San Juan Resort & Casino.
