VOLUNTEER WITH TURTLES ABROAD

There are 7 recognised species of marine turtle: Hawksbill, Loggerhead, Leatherback, Olive ridley, Green, Flatback, Kemp's ridley. Six of these are already threatened with extinction and there simply hasn’t been enough research to understand the populations risks to Flatback turtles to know if they are threatened too.

Pod volunteers are able to support a charity in Greece protecting Loggerhead turtle nests and hatchlings, monitoring Loggerhead and Green adult turtles in the harbour as well as researching turtle sea grass foraging grounds. Volunteers can head to Costa Rica to work at a wildlife reserve which patrols beaches and protects Olive ridley and Green turtle eggs in a hatchery and releases hatchlings to the sea.

It’s fascinating that the temperature of the nest during incubation effects the sex of the turtle hatchling. Warmer temperatures (above 31°C) lead to female turtles, whilst nests below 27.7°C produce male turtles. The warming climate is having a huge impact on the ratios of turtles, with more female turtles hatching each year.

Climate change is impacting the turtles nesting beaches, with nesting beaches being eroded away in stronger storms and the warmer oceans are causing coral bleaching that is harming the corals which is an important food source for many turtles.

In some cultures endangered turtles are hunted and eggs are collected as they are considered a food source or aphrodisiac. Protecting the nests and eggs is vital to ensure that as many hatchlings as possible can be released for future populations. Community education plays a key role in protecting sea turtles, so that people can begin to understand the value of conserving turtle populations.

It's amazing that turtles head back to the same beach they hatched from to lay their own eggs, however it’s a long journey before this occurs. Turtles need to survive 15-30 years before they are at egg-laying age. There are many threats to turtles including deaths from predation, marine pollution, boat strikes, discarded fishing gear/ghost nets and oil spills.

Our Turtle Conservation volunteers play an important role in helping the plight of the turtles, and with every egg protected and every hatchling released there is greater hope for future generations of turtles. The projects are tagging adult turtles too – which is helping to improve the knowledge of turtle migrations and activity.

As well as direct Turtle Conservation projects, we also have a range of marine conservation volunteering projects where you can learn about and help protect the underwater environments, which are vital for many species including turtles.

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