After working at the UK Wolf Conservation Trust, I didn’t know which direction I wanted to head off in next – so I had a little break from volunteering altogether. It was midway through the year studying animal management, and I had to decide what I wanted to do for the rest of my career and work out my future – so the lecturers were pressing on about universities and where us students will be heading off to as soon as the course is over.
So I attended two open days in particular – one at the University of Exeter and other at the University of Gloucestershire. At first, The University of Exeter was the primary choice for me, and I had high hopes of getting a placement there – as I loved everything that it represented, its reputation itself and the work they carry out in conservation – especially in marine biology. It was because of attending The University of Exeter open day that I became aware that they work on projects studying the behaviour of sea turtles in Northern Cyprus and strive to protect them. And to my surprise, this very project isn’t too far from where I live in Northern Cyprus.
So I managed to contact the people that were coordinating this project and was able to obtain a one-week placement at this turtle project. I had initially booked a holiday to Northern Cyprus for a three weeks vacation with my family, but the plan was to spend at least two weeks with the family and one week at this project.
Once I arrived at Alagadi Beach, Kyrenia where the turtle project was located – I felt a feeling I couldn’t describe to you. Perhaps it was the fact that I would be away from home for a week with complete strangers or maybe it was because I was going to work with wild marine sea turtles and their conservation – literally only the Lord knows.
What I did know though was that I was very excited to see where this project would take me and what lessons it would teach me! This project, in particular, was very different to anything I had ever done before – as it was going to be my most hands-on experience to date. The work consisted of two main categories and these included: Daytime protocols and Night time protocols.
During the day the volunteer/student work will prioritise on primary tasks such as working with nesting females, recording a nest, checking for hatchling nests, excavating nests, ring caging the hatchling nests, booking on tourists, etc. These are just a few of the many tasks which were carried out during the day until nightfall where more duties were conducted.
However, the nighttime protocols were most definitely my favourite as I really considered myself contributing highly towards conservation. The primary tasks at night included: bay walks checking for any signs of hatchlings or nesting females, working with breeding females, encountering turtle tracks and turtles, biopsies and guiding tourists to carry out hatchling releases on the beaches. Like stated above these are only a few of the duties which were conducted and consisted of much more – there was plenty to do which kept us all on our toes.
I learned that marine sea turtles face a harsh reality and there are numerous threats which determine their fate. These threats consist of entanglement in fishing gear, poaching and illegal trade of (eggs, meat, and shells), coastal development, plastic and other marine debris, global warming and ocean pollution. It was a shame to acknowledge that most of the contributing factors were caused by us humans – and I was delighted being on the turtle’s side rather than against.
I learned that marine sea turtles face a harsh reality and there are numerous threats which determine their fate. These dangers consist of entanglement in fishing gear, poaching and illegal trade of (eggs, meat, and shells), coastal development, plastic and other marine debris, global warming and ocean pollution. It was a shame to acknowledge that must of the contributing factors were caused by us humans – and I was delighted being on the turtle’s side rather than against.
Working with the turtle project proved to be the most challenging experience for me when compared to all of the other work experiences which I conducted in the previous animal industries. This was initially the most hands I had ever been, and it challenged me both physically and mentally. There were times when I was placed on night work, and I had to walk the bays and check for hatchling activity within the nests – just me, a bucket, a head torch and a walkie-talkie walking along the empty beach away from my team and only listening to the sound of the waves.
Being exposed to that kind of solitude was new to me – even if my team were on the other side of the beach and I was able to use that alone time to connect with God. Things have been going exceptionally well for me over the years as I carried out my studies and conducted these placements, but being alone on several nights of bay walks made me realise that I must remain humble at all times and be thankful for everything that I acquire in this life.
I think not knowing what is in store or what lays ahead sits on my mind much more than it should do – and I always wanted an answer to everything.
I had this obsession to always do well and always had something to prove to somebody – and those quiet times walking along the bay made me realise that I had to ask myself a question and that was “What am I trying to achieve with this all? Am I trying to get a name for myself or do I really want to make a difference to this planet?” Because I had to be honest with myself from NOW – and the truth was that I wasn’t going to get wealthy from a career working with animals. I wasn’t going to get rich being a Christian either, so I had all these kind of things going on through my mind as I carried out conservation work with the turtles.
It actually made me realise that if I were to pursue a career working with wildlife – I would have to do it for all the right reasons and trust that it will be able to pay off in the long term. I wasn’t an expert at this as I was still learning every day and I haven’t considered myself to be better than anybody else – from the moment I figured out I wanted to work with animals.
I believe that through hard work, grit, determination and faith – things will work out perfect for you if you ended up being patient enough to wait for the results. Nothing will come easy, and you will be tested all of the time – whether that is being tested by other people or by yourself.
Coming to Northern Cyprus to work with turtles in my own country has been one of the most memorable moments of my life, and it taught me so many lessons about myself. I’m glad that I took the risk to change careers to work with animals and I pray that I can make a real difference to this planet and help maintain animal populations, wild places and contribute to a healthy planet/atmosphere. It was, in fact, the first ever moment during my career where I had my family observe me do what I do, and it made me feel so proud – and I’m very grateful for that.
I have no idea where this journey will take me next – as I strive to further my studies and go to university as that is my primary goal. But regarding how far I’ll go from there – only the Lord knows that as I only see so much whereas He see’s the bigger picture.
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Until the next time!
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