Apply to join sea turtle conservation projects and help make a difference to these beautiful animals in countries like Greece, Costa Rica, Thailand and Sri Lanka..
Best Sea Turtle Volunteer Programs
Sea Turtle Conservation in Costa Rica
• 2-12 weeks
• £1,395
How to Help Sea Turtles
Every year numerous sea turtles are reported stranded throughout the world, usually caught in fishing nets or injured by speedboats. The chance of survival for the turtles increases if immediate and proper treatment is provided.
On these projects you’ll live and work with other enthusiastic and energetic volunteers, conducting daily monitoring and working throughout the community to raise public awareness.
Join these incredibly rewarding projects, set against an idyllic backdrop, and discover a world of fragile beauty, helping to safeguard exquisite wildlife and exceptional habitats for future generations.
Project Highlights
• Get up close and personal with some breathtaking marine wildlife
• Help monitor and relocate sea turtle hatchlings
• Experience laidback beach life
Locations
You can find placements all around the world, popular places to participate include Greece, Costa Rica, Thailand and Sri Lanka.
Aim of Projects
You will be working closely with state agencies, local authorities and local fishermen in order to mitigate and reverse population reduction of sea turtles. In Greece the coastline is an important reproduction area for the loggerhead sea turtle in the Mediterranean, the project is very well established and has been running here since 1983.
The primary objective of the project has been to protect the sea turtles and their habitats in Greece through monitoring and research, developing and implementing management plans, habitat restoration, raising public awareness and rehabilitating sick and injured turtles.
Your day to day duties will be dependant upon the current focus of the project at the time of your visit, but could typically involve turtle egg collection, nest excavation, scientific monitoring and tagging of hatchlings and turtles, and educating visitors about the project. You could also get the opportunity to learn about marine flora and take part in organized beach clean-ups. Your days will be long but certainly rewarding.
What Will I Be Doing?
Volunteers help to support the groundbreaking survey and protection work being carried out. During the first two weeks you’ll prepare for the oncoming nesting season and carry out beach clean ups. Day-to-day volunteers patrol beaches close to camp gathering valuable population data of the endangered marine turtles.
In Greece during peak nesting season (mid May-mid August) tasks may include morning surveys to look for adult turtle tracks and locate nests, ‘caging’ or relocating threatened nests and night surveys to observe and tag nesting females. During hatching season (mid July- late October) you will look for baby turtle tracks, monitor hatching nests and tag adult female turtles during nesting. Your role in the excavations of hatched nests helps to determine the hatching success of the species.
The main threat onshore and in water to sea is the rapid mass tourist development, which destroys the suitable nesting beaches and creates in-water threats for the turtles such as speedboats. In addition to daily rescue and treatment tasks the project runs a large Public Awareness (PA) program. Through presentations, you’ll play an integral part in educating locals and visitor about the turtles and the ways they can help to save the Caretta caretta.