Ocean Guardians Report

This January I volunteered with the Olive Ridley Project in Diani, ORP is a charity organisation established in 2018 in Kenya its main presence is in the Maldives. There work is very important on the Kenyan coast, safeguarding the turtles, and their community outreach programme. I had the pleasure of volunteering with them for 2 weeks. In these 2 weeks I gained so much knowledge about turtle ecology and biology and their ecological importance. 

My work included diving every day, with diving the crab Diani, an amazing dive school, and taking photo IDs of the turtles, this entails taking a picture of the left and right side of the turtle’s face, as their scales are like a fingerprint. And then spending the afternoon matching the turtles we saw on the dive to the data base of turtles, unique to the individual. Getting to know the turtles in and out of the water was a humbling experience, realising how intelligent and important these reptiles are to the sea. We also carried out drone test and surveys within the lagoon, taking data on habitat types. 

When I was young and first realised, I wanted to spend my life helping to preserve our beautiful oceans, one of my dreams was to work with turtles, who doesn’t want to work with turtles. I am so grateful to have had this experience and the opportunity to volunteer for Olive Ridley Project. It was such an amazing experience, and the Seas4Life team where incredible helping me every step of the way and supporting me. The team at Olive Ridley Project where very welcoming and passionate about their job and turtles. 

Written by Isobel Crosskey
Seas4Life Ocean Guardian