Sea Turtles:

Seven different species of marine turtles grace our ocean waters, from the shallow seagrass beds of the Indian Ocean, to the colorful reefs of the Coral Triangle, and even the sandy beaches of the Eastern Pacific. Nearly all species of sea turtle are classified as Endangered.

The lifespan of a sea turtle should mirror humans; they are capable of living 50 to 100 years. Sadly, the greatest threat to their continued existence is us. Turtles are found with illnesses caused by pollution, damaged shells and flippers caused by boats, and washed up dead from eating plastic, hooks and other rubbish dumped in the ocean. Sea turtles are poached. Nesting sites are disturbed, the eggs stolen to be sold as a local delicacy, and entire nests are destroyed.

The Turtle Sanctuary:

We have formed a partnership with a truly wonderful man named Bulong who lives on a small island in Indonesia. He has a small sea turtle sanctuary on the beach and together our aim is to work with local people to patrol the beaches and protect the turtles that nest there.

Adult females lay 100 eggs per nest and up to 8 nests per season. Only 1 in 1000 hatchlings may survive to adulthood.

It is common for poachers to raid the nests on the beach and steal the eggs to sell as a delicacy. During the breeding season we patrol the beaches every night to protect nesting mothers. When the eggs are laid, we relocate the nests to a safe enclosed area by the sanctuary where we can watch over them until they hatch.

Once the hatchlings crawl out the nest we move them into pools of seawater so they are protected from predators, pollution and human impact until they are bigger and their shells are stronger. The current sanctuary consists of 7 concrete pools each containing turtles of different ages.

Locals who support the project feed and take care of the turtles. They are fed on a diet of fresh fish from the local market and stay in our care until they are around 8 months old.

At around 8 months old the turtles’ shells are hard enough to protect them from most predators.

The turtles are released into the deep waters of the Indian Ocean where their chances of survival are greatly increased. Healthy sea turtles can live for up to 100 years!

Bulong has been running the sanctuary on his own for many years and relies entirely on donations from tourists to feed the turtles. Sadly, he often does not have enough money to feed the turtles a proper diet of fish so feeds them rice instead. There are also many nests he is unable to save, and many turtles he is unable to raise because he does not have enough space.

Our Aim:

Presently the turtle sanctuary has over 300 hatchlings in our care.

We are looking for donations to meet our aims to:

Repair the current sanctuary roof and ponds which were damaged in recent earthquakes

Build new ponds so that we can house more hatchlings

Feed the growing numbers of turtles in our care.

This funding will enable us to release approx. 500 adult turtles into the deep sea waters of the Indian Ocean where they will be safe from most predators because of their size.

We provide monthly support to ensure the turtles are fed a proper diet of fresh fish and hope to be able to continue with this indefinitely. Anyone who is interested in contributing to the monthly support should get in touch.

Adopt a Turtle:

A donation of £25 will pay for a turtle to be raised from a hatchling to an 8 month old adult in the sanctuary before being released into the wild.

By adopting one of our turtles you are giving them a head start in life and a better chance of survival.

Why Indonesia?

Indonesia is home to a large area of the coral triangle, the planet's richest area of marine life and coral diversity. Within this area live over 6000 coral species of fish, 76% of the world's coral species, and 6 of the 7 marine turtle species. Indonesia is also the second largest contributor to ocean pollution in the world. It is responsible for 10% of the world's total plastic pollution.