Throughout low season we're publishing a series of blogs about ways in which Blue Guru supports marine conservation research and how individuals can contribute too. We've already covered wonderful whale sharks & majestic manta rays. This time we're talking about terrific turtles. Whilst the scope of Blue Guru's local Ocean Action Project focuses on sharks & rays, we also record data on all turtle sightings to support national & international research into these endangered species.

Blue Guru is based on Koh Phra Thong which has 15km of undeveloped beaches used as nesting grounds by 4 types of turtle: Hawksbill, Green, Leatherback & Olive Ridley. The same species also nest on nearby Surin Islands.

In Surin National Park several beaches are closed to protect turtle eggs. On Koh Phra Thong, there is a turtle conservation project run by Naucrates and their volunteers walk the beaches every morning during high season looking for nests.

Blue Guru's divers & snorkelers are most likely to see hawksbill turtles at Pak Kaad in Surin Islands & Koh Tachai's south reef. There is also a resident green turtle at Koh Phra Thong's Hornbill Rocks. 

Blue Guru reports each turtle sighting to Shark Guardian's e-Shark project, which is monitoring the volume of sightings across the whole of Thailand. We would encourage all divers & snorkelers in Thailand to contribute to this project by recording sightings online: http://www.sharkguardian.org/thailand-eshark-project/

We also report more detailed data on all turtle sightings to Sea Turtle to support international research. All divers & snorkelers around the world can contribute to this conservation work by submitting key data to: http://www.seaturtle.org/istor/

Project AWARE's Dive for Debris campaign is also vitally important for protecting turtles, particularly from plastic rubbish. Plastic bags can easily be mistaken for jellyfish, which turtles eat. If a turtle's stomach gets congested with plastic which it can't digest, real food cannot be consumed and the turtle starves to death. Fishing net debris also creates a major threat of entanglement for turtles. If caught in fishing nets, they cannot come to the surface to breath and suffocate. All divers & snorkelers can help prevent such painful deaths by removing any debris they see whilst in the water and reporting data about the type & amount of debris removed to: http://www.projectaware.org/DiveAgainstDebrisData 

If you are interested in learning more about turtle's biology, how to identify different species, threats they face and how you can support conservation efforts, consider taking the PADI Turtle Awareness specialty course.

(Photo credit: Daniel van Dongen, PADI IDCS Instructor)