March has flown by, and I can’t believe I have been here two months already (Chapter #1). We have had the arrival of my first turtle patient, an Olive Ridley turtle named Ari. She loves playing in her tube-frame (an EED, ‘environmental enrichment device’) and swimming around with it resting on her back; she is very good at swimming backwards, especially since she only has her hind two flippers. With such a big personality she is loved by all the guests, and I enjoy chatting to educate people on the dangers of ghost nets and the impact on marine species. As well as interacting with guests about our Turtle Rehabilitation Centre, my role now includes feeding Ari twice a day, cleaning her and her pool, and making sure she stays happy and healthy.
We have also had first-hand experience with another danger that is facing sea turtles in the Maldives, and that is coastal development. Green sea turtles return to the same beach they are born on to lay their own eggs, and this can be a problem when 25 years later the beach has seen largescale construction and there is no longer space for the turtle to make a safe nest. A clutch of eggs was rescued from a flooded nest by the Maldives Environmental Protection Agency, and brought to Kuda Huraa in the early morning. I was on nest-digging duty, and I am very impressed with turtle’s nest building skills because that was not an easy job! There are 87 eggs now developing under the protection of fencing on ‘Secret Beach’, with several weeks left till they hopefully emerge… come back soon for an update!
Ari, our Olive Ridley turtle patient
Turtle nest relocation
Dolphin-spotting guest excursion
The mangroves at Bodu Huraa
During the Dolphin Cruises in February, I was lucky enough to see hundreds of spinner dolphins, and every time I witnessed them spinning and jumping, I was in awe, and thought it couldn’t get any better than this… and then came the dolphin cruises in March! Perhaps due to seasonal changes in the wind direction, March brought us bottlenose dolphins, Risso’s dolphins, huge pods of short fin pilot whales, false killer whales and hundreds more spinners. Safe to say, my camera roll from March is now full of videos of dolphins and whales.
Due to the easing of COVID restrictions in the country, on my days off this month I have had the luxury of visiting the capital city of Malé, as well as discovering the neighbouring local island of Bodu Huraa. Exploring Bodu Huraa’s beach rock pools at night presented many new marine species I had not seen before, just as I thought I was starting to know most of them! My favourite finds were a really cool zebra moray eel, a juvenile lion fish and “sea cucumber city” where you had to be careful when walking as there were juvenile sea cucumbers everywhere. Only around 12% of Maldivian islands have mangrove forests, and that includes Huraa. Mangroves are an important part of the marine ecosystem, creating unique nurseries for juvenile sharks and fish that go on to grow up around the coral reefs.
I’m stoked to see what next month brings… with high Easter occupancy at the Resort (lots of guest excursions), corals due to spawn (lots of night-time adventures), and more turtles set to arrive (lots of TLC to provide)!
Thanks for reading, and see you soon
Bethany 💙
On the lookout for dolphins!
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