A volunteer's Diary, 2008 (9)
A Monster Task in the Searing Heat
Taking you through the daily schedule of
a turtle project volunteer
THERE have been a few
recent requests for more
detail about what it’s
actually like to volunteer
for the Marine Turtle
Conservation Project and what the
average day generally entails.
I and three other volunteers
are currently out at our west coast
base in Guzelyurt, staying in a
townhouse kindly lent to the
project for our use throughout the
turtle season. Our responsibility is
to patrol all of the west coast
beaches with a history of laying
and nesting activity, a total of five
at present.
Daily schedule
Our morning start is around
5am, and the next half an hour
involves around three to four
volunteers groggily waking,
breakfasting, and stumbling into
the car before taking the mostly
off-road and bumpy 40-minute
drive to our first port of call —
“The Monster”.
Aptly named, the Monster is a
thin strip of beach stretching
about five kilometres, sandwiched
between choppy seas and rocky
desert-like ground sprinkled with
wild thyme. Volunteers will walk
the length of this beach looking for
fresh signs of any turtle-esque
activities. Earlier in the season
such patrols involved the
identifying of Green and
Loggerhead adult female tracks in
order to locate newly laid clutches,
and protect them from predators.
Measurements of all adult
tracks are recorded to gauge their
size and any other distinguishing
features (such as “Stumpy” the
female Green-whose track was
unmistakeable due to a back
flipper disfigurement potentially
caused by a previous run-in with a
boat propeller).
Upon finding a new nest, its
position is carefully measured
relative to the high water mark,
nearest vegetation, and right and
left post markings. The nest is
given a name (this is generally
done by the first to find it and
names range from the humorous to
the downright bizarre), and a wire
meshing is then placed over the
top to protect it against predation
by wild dogs, foxes and hedgehogs
(unfortunately there is not much
which can be done about those
pesky ghost crabs).
Now well into the peak of the
hatching period, patrols
concentrate on signs of hatching
emergence from the marked nests.
If substantial amounts of baby
tracks are found we will begin the
tiring process of excavation, to
help free any babies trapped under
the surface, record the fate of the
whole nest clutch (i.e. how many
eggs were fertilised, how many egg
fragments we find, and how many
live and dead babies are left in the
nest), and finally releasing the
babies into the sea.
The next beach in our daily
turtle patrol is West One and Two
— again this beach stretches for
around five kilometres but is
divided into two parts due to a
large rocky outcrop and headland.
Despite copious amounts of
rubbish being dumped and washed
ashore here, this area has seen
some of the highest levels of
nesting activity this season, most
of which being from Loggerheads.
The same routine of nest-checking
ensues before we move on to the
fourth of our beaches, known to us
as “Lost” (the name is self-
explanatory due to initial
surveyors having navigational
problems). This small and
shell-strewn beach comprises
rocky coves, making it difficult for
turtles to come ashore and lay,
although we do currently have six
nests there yet to hatch.
The finale of our beach
marathon concludes with
“Message” (named so due to the
exciting discovery of a message in
a bottle).
About 2.5km long, this beach is
strewn with many rock pools, good
for snorkelling and general cooling
down after strenuous nest
patrolling in the heat (it’s usually
around noon or 1pm at this point).
Currently there are only three nests still to hatch here. These are
all located up in the vegetation
and belong to Green turtles, which
are known to nest higher up the
beach than Loggerheads.
So herein ends the field work
section of our day — it’s then back
to base camp to type up data and
wash our sandy and salty limbs!
Oops
 |
|
The Truck Rescuers |
At this point I feel it necessary
to mention a certain series of
unfortunate events which occurred
while commuting between these
various beaches only this morning
— I would first like to stress that
this was my first attempt at
off-roading on what I would
mildly describe as ‘unfriendly
terrain”. The long and short of it -
was that I managed to get myself
and my fellow turtle warriors well
and truly stuck for rather a while
in a vast sand ditch. Between
visions of us being stranded for so
long that we would eventually
have to decide which one of us to
eat, we all worked hard digging
and strategically placing planks of
wood around the wheels, so that
with the awesome power of Stu’s
wheel manoeuvring we were
eventually back on solid ground.
As well as congratulating him, I
must also reimburse chiropractor
bills for both Lucy and Charlotte,
who tirelessly pushed the car from
behind while avoiding mouthfuls
of sand spray and exhaust fumes.
Birthday shenanigans
Just a quick mention of Robbo,
our project leader, who turned 26
on the 24th of this month, and
who enjoyed his turtle-shaped
chocolate birthday cake. Thanks to
all of you who came and brought
cakes and general party foods.
Upcoming events
The British Residents’ Society
and Spot are hosting a “supper by
the sea” at Deniz Kizi beach bar on
Friday, September 19 at 7.30pm.
Tickets cost 30YTL and are
available from the British
Residents’ Society hut on Saturday
mornings between l0am and noon,
or at Pegasos Restaurant on
Fridays from l0am to noon. There
will be raffle tickets for Spot and ‘a
turtle quiz on the night.
Diary by Lauren Finka
Reprinted from Cyprus Today |