About
Join our new sea turtle conversation project and assist in protecting endangered sea turtle species such as the Olive Ridley, Leatherback and Green Turtle. Take part in beach patrols to collect data on nesting sites and sea turtle activity, relocate eggs to specially constructed hatchery to protect the eggs during their at risk period, ensure hatchery is safe and secure to help increase hatching and population targets for these species.
Why this placement
Sea turtles are a key stone species which means they have a crucial influence on their environment and surrounding species. Unfortunately as globally experienced, sea turtle numbers declined due to accidental capture in fishing gear, hunted for their meat and habitat destruction due to climate change and human impact. By assisting in data collection and conservation tasks we aim to play our part in the protection of eggs and hatchlings to protect population numbers as part of the global effort.
What is included
Support Staff - Accommodation - House Utility Bills - Pre Departure Support
Support Staff - You will have both pre departure support from our head office team and then in country support at the project sites with you to ensure you have a smooth transition into a new culture and answer any queries you may have.
Accommodation - Living with your fellow volunteers and support team you will have the benefit of a tight knit family feel and always ensuring there is someone to chat to and plan your free time activities. For full information on the accommodation provided please see below in the dedicated part of the listing.
How do I get to the placement
Depending on your team allocation and location assigned you may be a short distance to the beach that requires patrolling on that shift. You have the option to walk, cycle or take a short shared taxi ride depending on the distance.
What will I be doing
The core pillars of the conservation project at this time are; Beach Patrols, Hatchery Supervision & Data Collection.
Beach Patrols - Through the night you will be allocated a shift and beach stretch where you will monitor the beach looking for signs of nesting, during this shift you will log your miles and stretch of beach patrolled. Upon finding a nest, depending on location we would aim to transport these safely to the dedicated hatchery to increase their chance of survival and protect them from outside threats. Upon spotting sea turtles you will be responsible for logging the details for ongoing monitoring such as photograph, verifying species, approximate size, location etc.
Hatchery Supervision - When assigned on hatchery duties you will be supervising the location to ensure a safe environment away from any threats such as dogs or birds etc and making any necessary fence repairs or fixes.
Data Collection - Processing the data collected by the beach patrol teams or from your previous night shift, ensuring this is processed in a clear and accurate manner to share with our conservation partners both in Ghana and overseas.
Depending on volunteer team numbers and workload we also aim to run community awareness schemes to highlight the importance of sea turtles and their impact, tagging of adult sea turtles caught by fishermen and ensuring their safe return to the ocean and then providing this tagging information to worldwide organisations to assist in the tracking and monitoring of adult populations and establishing a fishing exchange where fishermen who have caught sea turtles as by catch can turn over the sea turtle to us for a fixed fee or item to prevent it being sold to traders for meat etc.
Who will I be working with
Depending on the numbers of volunteers at a time we aim to group volunteers into couples or small groups especially at the start of your trip until you complete the training and feel comfortable, however there may be periods of time further down the line where this is not possible due to the amount of beach to be covered during the patrols for example.
Our support team will always be closeby between the project sites or accommodation should you need any further support or assistance when in country.
What should I bring
For your own comfort, light summer clothes will be best for most of your time during the placement. It would be useful to bring a sturdy pair of shoes for when going through the local forest.
You may find it useful to bring your own red torch light to use whilst on night patrols. We will have a core amount to cover the group per patrol team however the salt air and not the highest quality local torch products means that they don't last too long. You can find red light handheld or head torches on stores such as Amazon.
Activities or board games to spend your free time with your fellow volunteers are usually greatly appreciated!
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