Breaking records with GVI

Since her turtle talk with volunteers of Global Vision Internal (GVI), Elke has been taking GVI volunteers on beach patrols as part of the awareness raising campaign under the MCSS project on “Conservation of turtle rookeries on the developed island of Mahé through increased public awareness and community involvement.” funded by Mangroves for the Future.

To date, 18 volunteers have joined in beach patrols with a number a turtle records being broken.

Brendan Galloway proved that he was NOT an American Superpower after all, when a Hawksbill turtle showed him just how strong Seychellois girls could be! His buddy Vincent Vandergheynst filmed the whole thing! It took over 3 minutes for Brendan to restrain the turtle and in the end Elke only deployed one tag and had to forgo measuring, as she was feeling sorry for the poor turtle.

Proof that turtles are stronger than Americans, photo Vincent Vandergheynst.

Edvan Loh and Yvonne Phillips met the stupidest turtle of the season, who nested on Anse Forbans. She laid her 158 eggs in the open, mid-beach and near a busy road. Being clearly visible from the road, she drew quite a crowd which Elke kept at bay, armed with her recently laminated Turtle Watchers Code of Conduct.

Turtle tortures conservationist by nesting mid beach on a hot, humid day, photo Elke Talma.

Kevin Jackson and Jill Howell had the highest number of turtle tracks recorded to date during the 2009-10 Season, with 20 tracks in total being recorded on a single day.

And last but not least, after 5 years of monitoring Elke finally managed to get a shot of two turtles emerging at the same time! Curtis and Richard Horne were there to enjoy the experience and while they watched one turtle, Elke dealt with the other before coming over to tag their turtle.

In five years of monitoring, this is the 3rd time that Elke has seen two turtles on the same beach at the same time, photo Elke Talma.