Turtle heroes: Protecting Sea Turtles in Suriname

Hello, sea turtle friends! I’m back with an update on our activities, and this time, I want to give you some behind-the-scenes info on our educational initiatives, specifically the challenges we face working in a remote community.

In May, we visited Galibi for our usual vacation activities, which included a movie night and educational activities. First up was movie night! We typically organize these on the day we arrive. Leaving Paramaribo at 8 AM, we get to Galibi around 1 PM after a 1-1.5 hour bus ride and a 1.5 to 2-hour boat ride. Once there, we unload the boat, packed with our bags, educational materials, prizes for the kids like pens, notebooks, and reusable cups, plus ingredients for their lunch and snacks. Then we haul everything to our lodge—sometimes on foot for 10-30 minutes depending on where we're staying, or if we're lucky, an ATV helps transport our luggage (and occasionally us).

After settling in and having lunch, we review the schedule and take a quick rest. By 4:30 PM, we’re ready to go to the meeting hall for movie night, a 30-minute walk from the lodge. When we arrive at 5 PM, half the team cleans the hall and sets up chairs with the help of the children. There are always a few children who arrive super early, while the rest head over to the home of the local teacher, Ms. Nancy, who always assists us. She lives right across from the hall, so we store the materials, prizes, and food at her home. 

At 6 PM, the village gets electricity, so we set up our projector and check everything. And here’s where things went wrong for the first time —the hall's electricity didn't work! No problem, we quickly went into problem-solving mode and decided to move to a nearby government office with solar panels, a location we've used before. We relocated our equipment and had the kids bring their chairs over.

Movie night is saved! We set up, handed out popcorn and drinks, and started the movie. Ten minutes in… the power goes out. It comes back on, we restart everything, and then the power goes out again! We spent 30 minutes trying to fix it while keeping the kids entertained with songs and snacks. Sadly, the problem couldn’t be resolved, so we planned to try again the next night after they worked on the wires in the meeting hall.

The next day began with our educational activities. This year, our intern Merijn developed and led the activities. The kids made boats and raced them, learned about the importance of water, and played a water-soaked capture the flag/dodgeball game. We ended the morning with lunch and reminded them about movie night.

At 4:30 PM, we headed to the hall, set everything up, and at 6 PM, crossed our fingers. Yes, there was power! The movie night was a go! We started the movie at 7 PM, settled in with popcorn and drinks and enjoyed a movie about a group of migrating birds! 

Working in rural areas has its challenges, but after six years of fieldwork, we know how to handle them. Plus, it’s a great learning experience for our interns!

We thank you for your support, because thanks to your donation we can continue working with these children, who will ultimately be the sea turtle guardians.

Things have been rather quiet lately, with not too much action out in the field. We've mostly been holed up at the office getting ready for a slew of projects lined up for later this year and planning some fun vacation activities for the children in Galibi!

We did provide information to one of the local dailies, first about how sea turtle tourism when done right can actually help protect the animals. And second, about the shocking consumption of sea turtle eggs that is still widespread in our community.

This year, we're diving deep into the fight against terrestrial and aquatic pollution. Our mission? Not just to cut down on waste and pollution, but to stop it before it reaches the ocean and harms marine life, especially our beloved sea turtles. That means diving into waste management laws, testing new technology, and raising awareness of the harmful impact of marine pollution and litter through education and awareness campaigns.

We're super excited about some upcoming stuff, like our marine expeditions and the marine biology course we're putting together for students and anyone else keen to learn. Most people in Suriname have never been at sea, let alone explored the green or blue parts, so it's gonna be a real eye-opener, showing just how vast and vital our oceans are for both us and the animals who call it home.

We're looking forward to a knowledge swap we're working on between local people and sea turtle experts. One of our goals this year is to send locals who are involved in the sea turtle monitoring program to Costa Rica to train with Christine Figgener. During this training, they'll gain hands-on experience and access the latest info on sea turtle conservation and data collection. They will then be able to share this knowledge with others in Suriname and better participate in management and monitoring projects in their communities. This opportunity will bolster the skills of our local community, enabling them to become the sea turtle heroes for those animals nesting on Surinamese beaches.

So yeah, even though things might've been quiet lately, there's a whole lot of buzz building up for what's coming next. We thank you for your support, without your help we would not be able to do all this. 

Links:

• How tourism helps protect sea turtles
• Organized network responsible poaching sea turtle eggs