The Great Turtle Project

I had the best time at The Great Turtle Project! I loved the whole experience. Dudley and his family were so kind, hospitable and knowledgeable. They went above and beyond to make sure we had the best time and really looked after us. Us as volunteers were able to be hands on and take part in every step. Activities such as burying the turtle eggs in the hatchery, watching the babies hatch, cleaning the turtle tanks, feeding the turtles... the list could go on! We even got the chance to see a female turtle lay her eggs on the beach which was just beautiful. The highlights were definitely the nightly turtle releases, the beautiful sunsets, the yummy Sri Lankan food and of course all the lovely people at the project who are so passionate about what they do. It was truly a magical time and would recommend this project to anyone. This was the first conservation project I had done and I think it would be hard to top. I originally booked to stay 3 weeks and ended up staying for 2 months. I hope to return next year to see the turtles and everyone again!

The most gorgeous location. The sanctuary is right on the beach and I was more than happy to be staying there. Dudley and his team are fabulous and go over and above to make you feel welcome. The turtles who are the stars of the show are beautiful and the work they do here is commendable. I got to release baby turtles every evening into the ocean, I did tours of the sanctuary for people from all over the world, got to see a mum turtle lay her eggs in the very early hours of the morning. Cleaning their tanks was a memorable day and helping to maintain the sanctuary as well as meeting like minded people who become great friends was just part of this fabulous project. Thank you to The Great Projects team for all their help and guidance in making this dream become a reality

Before we chose the project, I was careful to check it’s approach to turtle welfare. The website and reviews all indicated the Kosgoda sea turtle project was a good one. I particularly liked the two pronged approach. To increase the number of hatchlings surviving the incubation process to make the beach run to the sea. And also education, to increase local awareness and encourage the population to love and protect the turtles in their plight to survive. By far the best way to protect turtle nesting is to secure and protect the sites where they are created, however, I have gathered that in some areas this is not possible. With the increasing level of poaching in the koskoda area of Sri Lanka, turtle hatcheries may be necessary. However, the incubation and release needs to be effective or more harm is done than good. Myself and my daughter joined the project for 1 week at the end of May 2024. We were so excited to get stuck into some hard graft and contribute to the cause. Sadly, we left on the second day, as we felt the project just isn’t getting things right. I believe the Kosgoda project has been set... Before we chose the project, I was careful to check it’s approach to turtle welfare. The website and reviews all indicated the Kosgoda sea turtle project was a good one. I particularly liked the two pronged approach. To increase the number of hatchlings surviving the incubation process to make the beach run to the sea. And also education, to increase local awareness and encourage the population to love and protect the turtles in their plight to survive. By far the best way to protect turtle nesting is to secure and protect the sites where they are created, however, I have gathered that in some areas this is not possible. With the increasing level of poaching in the koskoda area of Sri Lanka, turtle hatcheries may be necessary. However, the incubation and release needs to be effective or more harm is done than good. Myself and my daughter joined the project for 1 week at the end of May 2024. We were so excited to get stuck into some hard graft and contribute to the cause. Sadly, we left on the second day, as we felt the project just isn’t getting things right. I believe the Kosgoda project has been set up with the best of intentions. Dudley and his team are lovely people - it was clear to me that they all care for the turtles and are committed to the project. When we tried to discuss our concerns, Dudley tried defending the “big picture” (he is 30+ years into his 50 year project plan). However, we felt there were some very concerning issues in the way the turtles were cared for. It felt like the education (a show for visitors) was being prioritised at the expense of welfare. Some examples below. Healthy turtles are being kept in small concrete tanks - one of whom is handled by visitors to the sanctuary. (While there, I saw this turtle “Lucky” being lifted out of the tank and held by a visitor wanting to show it to his little boy). The great projects website suggests only those turtles who could not survive in the wild are kept, but this was not the case when we were there. There was just one who could not have been released (an albino turtle), but the other adults were quite healthy. They were just swimming round in circles around small rectangle tanks with zero enrichment. The hatchery was cramped and new nests were being dug in the same space as nests that had hatched less than 3 months before. I saw no action taken to clean the sand or ensure a long enough fallow cycle for the sand to prevent the spread of disease. There was little training to support volunteers to make sure to dig nests well. While there was careful instruction about nest depth, there was no other communication to help us novices execute the task well. I saw a volunteer breaching the nest “next door” when they were creating a new nest for the next batch of eggs. I saw a high ratio of failed hatchlings when digging out old nests. For example, from a nest with 54 eggs, I counted at least 30 fails. I’m sure this happens in nature too, but what I saw just deepened my concerns about the 2 points above. Not enough care was being taken with the critical task of creating healthy nests to ensure best yield. Hatched baby turtles were being kept in tanks for far too long before release. If they can’t be released immediately, my understanding is they should be kept in damp sand and released asap (at the latest with 24 hours). There were hundreds of baby turtles being kept swimming around in 2 tanks. They had been there for at least 4 days (some were there for longer). We were advised the reason was bad weather, but the weather was not dreadful. Typical monsoon day with some heavy showers, but nothing remotely dramatic. It was obvious to me when watching them that many were already warn out. Most were swimming about. Many were sleeping. And one sadly was dead. It was plain to see the teeny creatures were fast using up the reserves they should have been using to get into the sea. The worst thing, the clincher for our early departure, was the release we did in the evening. Only 25 turtles were taken from the tanks (holding hundreds). We 5 volunteers were provided with 5 turtles each to release onto the sand in front of the sea. Of the 10 that me and my daughter were invited to release, five didn’t move once placed on the sand. Some scuttled off just as you would hope to see, but so many were just too tired and confused to even try. It was heartbreaking to watch. When we asked why all of the turtles were not being released (so as to get them in the sea asap) I’ve were advised some were being kept until Friday (4 further days away), to be released in a community event. While education is so important (one of the reasons we chose the project), it felt to me that the turtles were being sacrificed in order to put on a show - 100% doomed to fail in their challenge to reach the sea. I have thought hard about writing this review. Keen not to be naive as I understand nature is tough and conservation is also tough. The country is poor and turtles and turtle eggs have value. Poaching is a reality here that cannot be ignored. Effort to help the turtles is a very good thing and Dudley is proud of what he is doing at Kosgoda. But from what I saw at the project, the health of the eggs and hatchlings was too much at risk. I fear the project is doing more harm than good. I think the web site misrepresents the reality of the project. I do understand that my review may stand out. (I totally bought into the reviews that I saw when i booked the project myself). I do hope you will consider re-writing the page to ensure others like myself don’t end up on a project they don’t want to support. Some inaccuracies to note. Reference to sick turtles being kept. This was not the case. Some healthy turtles are being kept in order to aid interest and education. Same day release. Please do challenge Dudley to give you a more accurate description about how the eggs and hatchlings are looked after and released. All experts agree, hatchlings MUST be released asap same day. Reference to school visits and teaching English. Dudley advised that they no longer do this. I was quite disappointed, particularly given the project emphasis on raising awareness and education. (Show More)