On Friday, 13th December 2002, we released the last batch of turtles in our care into the Indian Ocean. After one and a half years in the natural lagoon environment of Banyan Tree Maldives and Angsana Ihuru, the 11 turtles have grown substantially – they are now each 6-7kg in weight and 35cm long. Hopefully, they are now too large to be eaten by predators.

The natural life cycle of the Green Sea Turtle dictates that it leaves the island it was born on as a baby, ventures into the deep of the ocean and comes back only after 15-20 years in the open sea to lay eggs. Where the turtle goes in the meantime, what diet it feeds on and which obstacles it faces are questions marine biologists cannot answer with certainty. We do know, though, that in the early stages of a turtle's life at sea finding food is not easy, as it has to learn to dive first. Moreover, many baby turtles fall prey to sharks, crabs and other marine predators.

Our 'head-start' project of keeping 10% of turtles hatched on Angsana Ihuru in the lagoons and feeding them has succeeded in seeing them through to a sizeable weight and length. The turtles have a much better chance of reaching adulthood now than if we had let them run for the ocean the minute they were born.

In order to find out more about Green Sea Turtle migration patterns, 2 turtles have been installed with a transmitter (each costs US$6,000 to operate for half a year) that allows us to follow their movements in the ocean for 6 months via satellite. In the weeks to come, we hope to install an on-line tracking program on our web site, so that you too can access their most recent position from your home computer. If you would like to be on our mailing list to find out more about our marine conservation projects, including the satellite turtle tracking, sign up today.

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