Hi everybody! My name is Sophie and I am the new marine biology intern for Seamarc at Four Seasons Resort Kuda Huraa. I will be here until Christmas, plenty of time for me to learn all about the beautiful islands of the Maldives and the wildlife they are home to. Here’s to taking you along for the ride!
I completed my undergraduate degree in Zoology at Hull University in the summer of 2015 and was counting down the days until my departure. Having visited here in the past as a guest, I was ecstatic to be offered such an amazing opportunity to work here for three months.
Since arriving, I have learnt something new every day and the adventure never stops. I was first introduced to the turtles here in the Marine Discovery Centre. The 12 green turtles reared from birth as part of the Head Start Programme are doing incredibly well on their varied diets, and are well on their way to reaching their target size to be released into the ocean. The large rescue and rehabilitation Olive Ridley turtles ‘Ollie’ and ‘Lylah’ are much harder to please, and require a bit more patience before they start tucking in to their favourite gourmet meal of lobster heads.
The other rescue turtles enjoy the full varied diet available to them, including reef fish and any jellyfish that wash up on our beaches. Prior to my arrival, ‘Ollie’ had to undergo an amputation on the front left flipper due to extensive damage caused by entanglement in drifting ghost fishing nets. As a result, extra care and attention is given to her treatment, with daily bandage changes and soothing honey applied to aid the healing wound. It has been a very unusual experience – I never imagined that I would be administering medication and injections to sea turtles! Just another day in the life here at the Marine Discovery Centre!
![Eskimo – green sea turtle – released [KH.FB.09]](https://marinesavers.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Eskimo-green-sea-turtle-released-KH.FB_.091.jpg)
The timing of my arrival was perfect, as within my first few days I was able to assist in the release of one of our resident green turtles, ‘Eskimo’. As a slow developer, he had been preparing for this day of ocean freedom for over two years. On 26 September 2015, the day had finally come. We travelled by boat to Velaa Faru, a lovely natural coral reef perfect for a young green turtle. It was amazing to see how comfortable he looked when lowered into the ocean, and from there his adventure began, diving to the base of the reef and already searching for food. He will certainly be missed by the team here, but these are the results we love to see!
My first weekend on site was certainly busy for the marine biologists here at Kuda Huraa, with two new turtles in need of rescue. One of these was a 150kg male green turtle, who was unresponsively floating in the channel near the resort. Spotted by snorkelers earlier that morning, a rescue attempt was immediately put into action. It took 6 people to get this amazing turtle out of the water and into the boat, and we needed to get him back to the resort as soon as possible as he wasn’t showing promising signs to fight for life. I had never seen a turtle this large before, which was a whole new experience for me in itself.
Unfortunately, this large male did not survive his ordeal, which was very upsetting to the whole team who had worked so hard to try and save another life. These experiences have shown me how important it is to protect and be responsible for these often helpless animals.
We also have two new and certainly unexpected arrivals … baby fruit bats! ‘Freddy’ and ‘Robin’ were found by guests after becoming separated from their mothers. Since then, they have become very popular and charismatic residents of the centre.
At only 10cm long they are hard not to fall in love with, and they enjoy nothing more than to snuggle up in a towel and nap after eating enormous servings of banana! Young bats tend to have a very low survival rate without the presence of their mother as they heavily rely on them for suckling, protection and food. Freddy, the more confident of the two, was placed back in the tree she was found in, 10m up, in the hopes that her mother would hear her cry and come for her. Unfortunately she had become quite used to human contact and provision so was not successfully taken despite an attempt by one adult individual. A few days later she was back with the team and is thriving.
UPDATE
Robin, the more timid of the two, was returned to the trees and successfully accepted by the resident adults. Freddy (now renamed Betty!) remains an office favourite, with her outgoing and inquisitive nature. These last few weeks, we have tried to encourage her to explore the trees and find her own food. We have seen huge progress in her strength and she has now started to learn how to fly.
I have always loved talking to people, and being a part of the guest excursions is a very enjoyable part of the job. I have even started leading some of the snorkel safaris around nearby reefs, an incredibly rewarding experience to be sharing information and experiences with people. To see the same excitement in them when we encounter amazing species, big and small, that are so unique to the Maldives. My favourite moments have often been on our dolphin cruises, the incredible spinner dolphins never cease to amaze me as they throw their bodies high above the water surface. That is certainly a sight I will never get tired of!
Hands-on care with all the animals is one of a kind, and I am forever in awe. I am hoping that next month I will further my understanding of Kuda Huraa’s very successful coral propagation programme which aims to rebuild and diversify the reefs around the island.
Sophie
Do you want to experience life as a marine biologist
here in the Maldives ?
Head over to our Employment page to read about the different ways you can work with us - full time, apprentice or intern.
And see more from our Interns in their very own words & photos as part of our Diary / Blog series.