A Warm Welcome from the Seychelles´ Turtles
We hit the jackpot! A total of six hawksbill turtles welcomed
us in our first two volunteering weeks with the Marine Conservation Society
Seychelles. Emerging from the beach, digging a whole, laying the eggs and
camouflaging –the turtles offered us the whole programme. But let´s start at
the beginning…
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| Michi & Nina |
We are
Michi and Nina from Germany. MCSS is our first project on our 1-year
volunteering trip to Seychelles, Madagascar, South Africa, Malawi and Canada.
Instead
of the usual “laying-on-the-beach-and-move-as-less-as-possible-holidays”, this
year we decided to do something meaningful by supporting the Marine
Conservation Society Seychelles (MCSS). And how could we spend our time better
than protecting critically endangered turtles? Apart from this, patrolling the
beautiful beaches of the Seychelles and monitoring its awesome fauna could
still be regarded as a luxury holiday trip – just much more exciting.
Nevertheless,
the first two weeks of our volunteering were anything but relaxed. The turtle’s
nesting season just reached its peak which means one thing above all: a lot of
action!While patrolling the beaches of south Mahe we encountered turtles nearly
every day. Although each spotting was special in its own way, we will remember
in particular one: our first hawksbill turtle encounter.
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| Turtle encounter on Anse Cachee |
It was
only our first day at MCSS, our first patrol and even our first five minutes at
a Seychelles´ beach.We instantly spotted fresh and clearly visible turtle tracks
in the sand upwards into the vegetation. Seeing just an up-track but no down-track
usually means the turtle was still somewhere on the beach.
Indeed!
We found her in the dense shrubbery still laying her eggs. Instantly, we could
see how exhausted she already was after emerging from the beach, looking for
the right place for her eggs and digging the nest. Yet, she still had one final
but important step to undergo: covering and camouflaging the nest. Thereby, she
hid the nest with sand and natural debris to guarantee an undisturbed and save
environment for her eggs. The turtles take this phase extremely serious so that
they can leave their eggs safely before going back to sea.
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| Nina & Annabelle counting the eggs as the turtle is laying |
Nina and
Annabelle counting the eggs laid. All the data taken by MCSS contributes to an
improved understanding of the species.
Nowhere
else in the world than on the Seychelles Hawksbill turtles nest during the day
and can be observed – while of course keeping a respectful distance–as
impressive as here. Furthermore, they are categorized as critically endangered
on the IUCN´s Red List of Threatened Species. Our visit and work with MCSS will definitely not
be our last one, but we have gained so much through this volunteering
programme.
