STINASU, Volunteers, Monitoring seaturtles as a Eco Volunteer

Monitoring Marine Turtles as an Eco-Volunteer

STINASU invites volunteers to help with its marine turtle monitoring program during the nesting season from March till August. The main activities under this program are to identify and count the number of marine turtle nests made at the various beaches, and to assess the health of the adult turtles. No special knowledge or experience is required; necessary on-the-job training will be given in the field. A lot of motivation and a bit of stamina, patience and understanding are needed.

Four species of marine turtles nest in Suriname:

The Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas), local name Krape
The Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), local name Warana
The Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea), local name Aitkanti
The Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), local name Karet

Every year these marine turtles come ashore to lay their eggs on our beaches in the Galibi Nature Reserve and the Matapica area. Toge-ther with Trinidad, French Guyana and Guyana, Suriname is the last and major stronghold for Leatherbacks. It is of international importan-ce that these marine turtles be protected. The volunteer has to make a commitment of working ten days at one of the beaches. The main activities under this program are to identify and count the number of marine turtle nests made at the various beaches, and to assess the health of the adult turtles.

Daily volunteer work at the beaches

Volunteers will participate in surveys during the night and the day. The night survey is from 9 pm, mostly at high tide, till about 2 or 3 am in the morning. The day survey is from 6 am till about 9 am. While walking on the beach one has to look for crawls (tracks in the sand made by the turtle with its body and flipper) and marine turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs.

Once a marine turtle comes ashore to lay its eggs, you have to identify the species. Since the tracks of different species of marine turtles are so distinctive, it is also possible to identify the species without seeing it. It is important to check the adult turtles for tags, cuts and wounds, or other distinguishing marks or injuries.

After the daily marine turtle monitoring routines, there will be enough free time for other activities e.g. relaxing, swimming, hiking and bird watching. The coast of Suriname is the breeding and feeding ground for thousands of waterfowI, so enjoy ...

For more information about the Marine Turtle Monitoring & Conservation Program download the pdf information sheet on the right.

For fee and contribution click here