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Charlotte Amalie
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesOn Island Profile: Michael Dance and Terry Chretien

On Island Profile: Michael Dance and Terry Chretien



Michael Dance, Terry Chretien and Goliath.From April through November, at a time of day when most residents are sleeping, husband and wife Michael Dance and Terry Chretien walk the beach at Jack Bay on the east end of St. Croix.

They aren’t taking leisurely strolls and holding hands; they are monitoring sea turtle nesting and hatching for the St. Croix Environmental Association (SEA) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“This is something really important because the turtles are an endangered species,” Chretien says. “The turtles are something unique to St. Croix, and it is something we could lose.”

Dance added that turtles are an indicator species.

“If they are endangered and in trouble surviving, it indicates the environment is in trouble,” he says.

They got interested in the volunteer work when they went on turtle watches sponsored by SEA. They asked Amy MacKay, a Fish and Wildlife representative and leader of the groups, how they could volunteer and help out. She made the suggestion that they help fill in on the monitoring of nesting turtles. Nature Conservancy interns monitor the beaches, but there isn’t enough funding for them to monitor all of the nesting beaches, Dance said.

They began their training four years ago with SEA, and MacKay then started monitoring the turtles one night a week and days at SEA’s Southgate Coastal Reserve.

“It was great being able to go out and learn so much from Amy,” Dance said.

Dance said the green sea turtle typically nests on the east end, the leatherback nests on Sandy Point and the hawksbill on Buck Island.

Once a week, at Jack Bay from 8 p.m to 6 a.m., the couple walks up and down the beach throughout the night, watching for the turtles to come ashore to nest or the hatching of the babies. Interns are doing the same thing nightly at Isaac Bay.

“It’s good exercise walking the mile-long beach eight to 10 times a night,” Dance says.

They wait for the turtle to actually start to lay the eggs and go into a trance-like state. While the turtle is in that state, the couple begins to collect data. They identify the turtles from an electronic tag that other monitors have placed on her. They record her tag number, measure her and check for scars and any other identifying marks.

“We have seen turtles missing rear flippers and they are still able to dig and get the nesting done,” Dance says.

They record the location of the nest in the measured and marked-off sections of the beach. Then they put a wooden popsicle stick in the nest. This year they have been permitted to excavate the nests once the turtles have hatched.

“We measure the success rate by counting the empty shells,” Dance says. “The babies usually come out in a group, working together to come out of the nest. Individually they can’t come out of the nest.”

Occasionally they get stuck in roots, and the couple has seen as many as 15 left in the nest. If a mongoose or dogs get to the nest before they do, the data is lost.

“The most rewarding thing is getting the ones left behind out of the nest,” Chretien says.

At South Gate they have seen nests damaged from people driving on them or leaving litter around that is harmful to the turtles.

The couple, having lived in the Virgin Islands for almost 15 years, is very environmentally conscious. They live in a totally solar home, the sun generating 100 percent of their needed power. Dance is working on producing his own biodiesel fuel from recycled restaurant cooking oil in a chemical conversion process. He will have it perfected by December, Chretien says. They are members of the Recycling Association of the Virgin Islands and do composting and recycling. They have a campaign on Facebook supporting the National Park Service study for Castle Nugent Farm Park plans. They also have several rescue dogs and cats.

“St. Croix is unique and beautiful,” Chretien says. “And it should be kept that way for our children and grandchildren.”

The two are both massage therapists with a business called Ambrosia Body Care.

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