Rescue & Protect Sea Turtles in Thailand and Asia

Dear Supporters, 

This past quarter has seen some exciting progress for our island research projects. With the addition of three new camera traps to our collection, we have finally caught the elusive Sunda pangolin on camera! This is a huge step forward for the project and now that we have conclusively proved the presence of pangolins on the islands, we can now look at developing our camera trapping methods so that we can think about estimating their population, as well as collecting some behavioural and ecological data. We are not just looking at the pangolins though, as we are aiming to build up a picture of the general biodiversity on the islands. We have also captured images of Asian palm civets, long-tailed macaques, wild pigs and sambar deer, so we are building up our knowledge of the species living on the islands and we will eventually be able to use this data to help bring about some protection for the islands. We hope to continue to grow our collection of camera traps with the help of funds from the GVI Trust, which will allow us to understand so much more about the beautiful islands where we work and to protect them and their wildlife.

In addition to the islands project we have, as always, been busy working at the turtle head-start centres. We have been buying all sorts of bits and pieces to make new enrichment devices with, all of which have been very popular with the turtles! We were invited to join in with the celebrations with our partners at the Royal Thai Navy as they unveiled their new turtle hospital and treatment facility. It was a lovely day to be a part of, and the hospital will provide much needed care and research on the sick turtles at the centre. The developments at the centre even made it into the news, and some of our enrichment devices were shown on Thai television! We are hoping to support the work of the hospital by attending some training sessions so that we can help with the work there, but also we hope that in the future we will be able to help fund raise for any new equipment or improvements that need to be made there.

We’ve also been busy developing our coral reef snorkelling survey project. We’ve found a new location that we can regularly visit and monitor, and we have also found a new partner to collect data for. Coral reefs are a vitally important but highly threatened marine ecosystem, and monitoring them is now more important than ever. Through surveying and sharing our data with partner organisations, we will be contributing to coral reef conservation and helping to ensure that the state of the reefs in our area of Thailand are continually monitored. We need to get together some new supplies to be able to carry out our new surveys such as underwater slates and writing materials, and species ID guides. We will be using some of the funds raised through the trust to purchase these items to help us create the best projects we can for our volunteers to participate in.

Over the next few months we hope to see further development for our island research, along with continued progress at the turtle centres and on our other projects.

All the best, 

GVI Phang Nga 

Dear Supporters,

Over the past few months, we’ve made some really great progress with our turtle enrichment project at one of our partner head-start centres. We’ve started using wave machines to create movement and currents in the water, something that the turtles had never experienced before. This is building up their strength and ability to swim with and against currents, something that will benefit them greatly when they return to the ocean. We have also been able to start leaving enrichment devices in the tanks for a few days at a time, previously we were only able to use the devices whilst we were at the centre. These devices, such as tunnels covered in rocks and coral skeletons, encourage the turtles to dive and rest underwater, natural behaviours they will need when they are released.

Our two long term interns have also begun their placement at this centre, and have been working hard on collecting data on the enrichment behaviour, as well as working to educate tourists and to support the centre in its day to day running.  

In addition to our turtle work, this quarter we have also carried out the launch of the Thai translation of Shark Guardian’s children’s book. The launch was carried out with around 160 children at one of our local schools. The day consisted of educational presentations and a number of fun, shark related activities. Everyone enjoyed the day and the children learned a lot about sharks and why they are so important.

We’ve also been busy with some community based conservation work. One of our projects has been to produce some simple wire bins to distribute in the community for plastic, cans and glass. We spent quite a bit of time making the bins and then distributed them throughout the village. These bins make it easier for the recyclables to be separated from the rest of the litter, and hopefully will keep some of these items out of landfill and out of the ocean.

One of our short term interns also carried out her leadership project at the CDC school, to educate the children on reducing their use of plastic. After an educational presentation, the kids were given the chance to decorate their own reusable canvas bag, which they can use instead of getting plastic bags from the shops. They really enjoyed the activity and really embraced the message behind it, so overall it was a great success!

With Gratitude, 

GVI Thailand