APS program monitors presence and supports conservation of sea turtles at the Port of Santos

With binoculars and a spreadsheet in hand, Thiago Macek narrows his eyes to confirm the sighting. It is a Chelonia mydas, the green sea turtle, the most frequent species in the Santos Port estuary. The fifth of the day.

Thiago is a biologist at the Santos Port Authority (APS), and one of his duties is to go into the field and support activities to record the presence and observe the habits of sea turtles in the area influenced by the Port’s waterway channel. During the latest navigation, conducted on Thursday (13), there were 20 records.

This is part of the Sea Turtle Monitoring Subprogram, one of the many environmental fronts required by Operating License No. 1382/17 from the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama).

Under the management of APS’s Environmental Department, the effort monitors six points weekly along a perimeter that stretches from Barnabé Island in Santos to Palmas Island in Guarujá.

Since January 2021, the initiative has recorded more than 540 turtle sightings. In 2025, there were 222, with highlights at Ponta da Praia (141) and Palmas Island (47). In addition to the green sea turtle, the subprogram has also registered the presence of Eretmochelys imbricata, the hawksbill turtle.

The literature also reports the existence of three other species in the waters of Baixada Santista and the São Paulo coast, although rarer and without recent sightings in the port region: Caretta caretta (loggerhead turtle), Lepidochelys olivacea (olive ridley turtle), and Dermochelys coriacea (leatherback turtle).

Conservation

Aboard an open motorboat, Thiago also measures seabed depth, water temperature, acidity, and visibility levels in the estuary. The data, collected over 11 years of monitoring, are essential for guiding conservation policies and tracking the impact of port operations on marine life.

“In the case of the turtles, we want to make sure that port operations are not reducing the local population,” explains the biologist. “In addition to being a requirement of the Port’s Operating License, it is rewarding to help understand their habits and preserve biodiversity in the port area,” he adds.

The Santos Port Authority also adopts other strategies to protect marine life. The maintenance dredging of the channel’s depth, for example, uses turtle deflectors, which act as physical and sensory barriers to prevent incidents.

The technology uses flexible chains placed in front of the dredge arm. The chains oscillate and gently disturb the area ahead of the dredging, keeping animals away from the operation site. Another measure is the establishment of a maximum activation and deactivation height for the dredge’s suction pumps.

In total, more than 20 environmental monitoring and control programs and subprograms are managed by APS. In addition to sea turtles, the actions include monitoring plankton (small floating organisms), benthic macrofauna (animals that live buried in the seabed, such as crustaceans, mollusks, and annelids), marine invasive species, and birds.

Fonte: APS

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