San Juan, Jun 11 (EFE).– The number of leatherback sea turtle nests spotted this year on San Juan’s beaches is the highest on record, thanks to monitoring and conservation efforts by hundreds of residents and volunteers along the shores of Puerto Rico’s capital.

So far, 22 leatherback nests have been located, compared to the record 18 found last year, Deborah Feliciano, a leader of the 7 Quillas community group, told Efe, citing Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, or DRNA, figures.

Feliciano, a retired teacher, has worked with others over the past three years to locate and protect the nests of the leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), the world’s largest turtle and listed as an endangered species since 1970.

Chelonia is another community group that has gathered information about turtle nests at other sites on Puerto Rico’s coast, counting more than 400 nests this year, compared to 300 in 2014, Feliciano said.

“We think it’s fabulous that other groups keep breaking records, and we knew the time would come for us too,” she said.

In 2014, according to DRNA data, a total of 2,013 leatherback nests were registered on Puerto Rico’s coast, compared to 600 in the 2013 hatching season.

Female leatherback sea turtles choose beaches on Puerto Rico’s northern coast to lay their eggs since the high surf helps them to reach the sand and then return to the sea.

Each year, leatherback sea turtles migrate from Canadian waters to tropical areas to mate.

Females lay eggs between March and June or July, and the hatchlings crawl to the sea between August and September.

“The leatherback turtle is a unique species that breaks all parameters among marine turtles,” Feliciano said, adding that the animals can grow to more than two meters (seven feet) and weigh 635 kilos (1,400 pounds).

Among leatherback watchers on San Juan’s crowded beaches, where all kinds of sports and recreational activities take place, one of the turtles has become popular and was nicknamed “Huequito” (Little Hole) because it has an orifice near its head.

Huequito has been spotted in the area laying eggs in the past six seasons, Feliciano said.

Each female can deposit up to 100 eggs in a period of about nine days. Usually, they bury the eggs at night in the sand, and hatchlings emerge 60 days later.

Each leatherback female, with a unique print on the forehead, remains in the area where she was born for about 60 days.

As an adult and after migrating, the turtles tend to return to lay eggs at the same beaches.

“These turtles are quite faithful to the beach where they nest,” Feliciano said, adding that whenever possible each turtle coming to shore is measured to record the length and width of their shell, and an ID tag is attached to the animal. EFE