Hi everyone, my name is Dayna and I am the intern at the Marine Discovery Centre at Kuda Huraa. I am a veterinary student from the University of Edinburgh, entering my fourth year of study in 2015.
I am primarily here to carry out a research project with the hatchling turtles that are part of the Head Start Programme. My study has been looking at colour preference in Green sea turtles with the aim of identifying any colours the turtles might be more or less attracted to. To measure colour preference in the hatchlings I have been feeding them components of their regular daily diet simultaneously from a selection of four different coloured plates (red, blue, green and yellow) and monitoring their feeding and behaviour over a 10-minute trial period.
I hope that by identifying a colour preference, this information might be used globally as a means of reducing the number of wild turtles caught in fishing nets, by selecting net colours the turtles are less attracted to. My study data and results will contribute to the slowly growing pool of data we have available on sea turtles, and help in working towards a safer and more secure future for these amazing yet highly endangered creatures.
Preliminary results appear to show the turtles do indeed exhibit a colour preference in their eating habits. We are also seeing inquisitive and ‘playful’ activity, as the hatchlings choose to nestle under certain plates or nudge other plates to the surface for scratching behaviour. We hope to use this information to create “environmental enrichment devices” (EED) for all of our turtles at the Centre, to promote activity and development.
When I am not sitting on top of the hatchling pools watching them swim from colour to colour, I am usually occupied with other daily routines. For turtle rehabilitation, these include medical treatments, diet formulation, pool cleaning, data entry, taking the turtles out for their UV fix, patient monitoring and admitting new turtles. Every day throws a new challenge, and my favourite experience so far is to see the rescue turtles going from strength to strength, making the hours of daily care all the more worthwhile. I will never forget Zoe, who I have spent the last month or so caring for every day, and is now ready for release.
I’ve also been heavily involved in the surgical procedures, including the essential amputation of flippers, which have become damaged due to entanglement in drifting oceanic ghost fishing nets. This has been a valuable educational experience for me, and I have learnt a lot. I also experienced a harsh reality first hand recently, when we lost an Olive Ridley turtle. After three hours of surgery in the pouring rain, things were looking good, but sadly her poor condition upon arrival proved too much to recover from. Unfortunately, you just can’t save every patient, and while it’s always hard to lose a turtle, it does provide a unique opportunity to perform a post mortem to learn more about turtle anatomy and pathology.
There is an abundance of sea life here of course, and the excitement of seeing a batfish or a spectacular spinner dolphin never fails to excite … and I have seen manta rays for the first time! When I am not in the water, I often take a stroll around the neighbouring local island of Bodu Huraa, where the sunsets are spectacular and moonlight casts a magical glow over the ocean.
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here in the Maldives ?
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