Turtles!!

Jambo,

We have now been at Mwamba for 18 days now and so much has happened.

There are really amazing conservation programs that are running with A Rocha and in the local area and we hope to highlight them throughout our stay here.

One local program called Watamu Turtle Watch (WTW) works with local fisherman to release sea turtles that have become entangled in their nets. Through a financial incentive, fishermen are persuaded to give these turtles to WTW instead of killing them. In 2009 alone, they released 857 turtles! The WTW also monitors turtle nests on the beach and has a rehabilitation centre for injured or sick turtles.

A volunteer of WTW was staying at Mwamba so we had the cool opportunity of helping release a few turtles back into the ocean...

One of WTW's vehicles they use to transport rescue turtles

Here we carry the turtles to the edge of the surf. Quite surprisingly, turtles have very powerful flippers. Often they struggle by flapping their limbs and the pressure exerted by the flippers on our hands was quite strong. In fact, we almost dropped this particular individual as it struggled but thankfully Mary caught it before it hit the ground.


The species of turtle in these photos are all Green Sea Turtles. Interestingly the name does not refer to their coloration but to the green fat found beneath their carapace (the top part of a turtles shell).

Green sea turtles are herbivorous, feeding mainly on sea grass and can live up to 80 years in the wild. While they don't come close to the size of some species of sea turtle such as the leatherback (which can reach 700 kg) they can still weigh an average of 200 kg.

These amazing creatures are almost completely aquatic, except when females lay eggs and will migrate more than 2,600 km to each their spawning grounds.

Off to the races!!

...almost there.

So another turtle gets a second chance at living in the deep blue.