Working with turtles is a fascinating, rewarding, and memorable experience, and we offer a number of such opportunities here at The Great Projects. They are located in places like Sri Lanka and Costa Rica, so the settings are simply stunning and ideal bucket-list destinations. You get to meet a range of interesting people who all share the same care for the environment and understand the need for conservation, as well as, of course, you get the opportunity to see the sea turtles up close and even care for them! They are amazing creatures, with some even growing to three metres in length!
The trips are enjoyable, once in a lifetime experiences, but they are also crucial in the preservation of the turtle species. The projects we offer cannot survive without volunteers, and it seems as though without the projects, the future for many species of sea turtle is uncertain, so if you want to help change this, working with turtles is definitely for you. On the projects, you could be doing anything from monitoring reefs to working in the hatchery to implementing awareness programmes with the local community. All you have to decide is where you want to go!
Take part on The Great Turtle Project in Sri Lanka as a volunteer in a turtle sanctuary and have an impact on the conservation of the country's beautiful sea turtles.
Play your part in the conservation of the endangered Olive Ridley turtle, as well as other vulnerable wildlife species, in coastal Costa Rica.
Sea turtles may be found in all of the world's oceans, but this vast habitat makes it very difficult to gain exact population numbers. The number of sea turtles in the wild varies from species to species. The most endangered of all of the 7 species of sea turtle is the Kemp's Ridley. This particular species has had a rapid decline in numbers with just around 10,000 remaining compared to a sighting of 100,000 nesting turtles in one day back in the 1940s.
Researchers have found it difficult to get an accurate figure for the number of sea turtles that are remaining in the wild due to their elusive nature and the sheer number of young turtles that never actually make it through to adulthood. One thing is clear though, and that is that all 7 species need our help if they are to survive.
Even though they have one of the most famed protective shells in the entire animal kingdom, turtles are relatively defenceless to the actions of humans. Some of the issues most affecting sea turtles are:
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