Olive Ridley nest hatched 5th of March
Our one and only Olive Ridley nest this season has hatched. We had not been too optimistic about the hatching success of the nest since it was found halfway down the beach, and the eggs exposed by the sea and very wet. We relocated the nest in safer ground and crossed our fingers.

Some of the volunteers began camping next to the nest on the beach after seeing sinking of the sand above the nest, or "volcano shaped cone" which indicates that the nest will begin hatching in few days. The first night was all quiet, but the persistent volunteers were lucky the second night and rewarded with seeing two hatchlings dig their way out of the nest. We were extremely pleased to confirm them Olive Ridley hatchlings buy counting their scutes, one had 6 and the other 7.

The next morning we had plenty of guests visiting from GBB who were eager to see the little ones and take a lot of photos. Some of these may end up in a Swedish newspaper.

Volunteer life in the village
Our family of volunteers has rapidly grown into team of 11. We have people from France, Finland, Netherlands, England, Singapore, Norway and Belgium. We are all being busy with the community work as well as with turtles. One late afternoon volunteers were invited to help with roasting and cracking open cashew nuts. A few of us were quite shocked to learn that the nuts grow in individual buds below fruits hanging in trees.

The team is getting weekly Thai lessons and this is helping us greatly to interact with the locals. We can say sa-wa-dee-kaa (Hello) to the villager in the morning, kop-kun-kaa (Thank You) to the boat driver who helps us with our buckets and a-roi (delicious) to our fantastic lady cook who makes best food ever.

Past week we also worked in the hot sun to create shade structure for the new houses, where our turtle museum and gift shop are located. It is a sweaty job, but helps a lot to keep the plants alive under the hot sun. Now we just wait for the rainy season to start, so we can plant some trees and flowers. The museum has been visited frequently by guests and we have been given them a turtle talk to explain about sea turtles and the project. We want to give a big thank you for all visitors who have come to see us and donated money for the project. These donations are greatly appreciated and put into good use within the project. Special thanks to Andrew Parker who donated us USD100.

Bob disappeared
Our resident juvenile hawksbill turtle, affectionately called Bob did a Houdini on us and disappeared for few days. All of us became a bit disheartened by his absence as we got used to him being around in the observation area every day. However, yesterday one of our newest volunteers saw a turtle emerge again in the area where Bob likes to hangout. Whether it is really Bob is not yet certain, but let's hope he will stay for a while.

Tortoise survey has started
We have begun a new survey within the project, that investigates the different species of land and fresh water turtles on the island. The survey is involving a great deal of help from the villagers, who have wealth of knowledge about these species. So far we have done few interviews to understand which species are living on the island, where they are seen and what is the role of the species in their culture and diet.

Based on these first interviews, we also determined few places where we set some humane traps to catch some of them for measurement and photographs. So far we have captured in the traps 2 skink lizards and one fish. We'll keep you posted on our progress on this survey.

Seagrass survey
Naucrates staff and volunteers have been surveying the ecologically important sea grass beds between Ko Ra and Koh Phra Thong. Sea grass beds, together with coral reefs and mangroves, make up the three most important marine habitats in the tropics. Koh Phra Thong is a very rich site for sea grass, and 11 of the 12 species of sea grass found in Thailand are present in and around this area. These habitats are home to a wide range of plant and animal species, including crabs, shrimps, sea cucumbers and the charismatic dugong to name but a few.  Sea grass beds are not just important habitats for animals however; they act as a sediment trap, preventing sediment and pollution from land run off reaching sensitive habitats such as coral reefs.

Our sea grass expert, Barry (Mangrove Action Plan), took volunteers out to the mudflats during low tide to assist in the data collection. The Volunteers observed many different species of fish and invertebrates inhabiting tidal pools, and learnt how to identify dugong feeding trails along the muddy sea grass beds.  This is a long term project which aims at closely monitoring these valuable habitats; raising awareness among the community; and actively involving the community in this ongoing conservation effort. 

Since the beginning of January we have been observing the behaviour of juvenile hawksbill turtles from the Hornbill Hill observation area. We have come to the conclusion that there are at least two juvenile hawksbill turtles using the area for shelter and food. One hawksbill turtle seems to have made his home next to a large rock at the back of the observation area. We have named him “Bob” because he (or she) regularly “bobs” to the surface at around 20 minute intervals. We have seen this turtle almost every day since we began observations this year.
There is also at least one more juvenile hawksbill using the area who we have nicknamed “Bill” and he (or she!) displays slightly different behaviour to our friend “Bob”. “Bill” is a more active swimmer, moving around the observation area and appearing at the surface more often at around 10-15 minute intervals. Also, “Bill” seems to be using more than one area for food and shelter, as he is not always present in the observation area.
Our Project Leader - Allesandra, and volunteer – Shelia, decided to take their snorkel mask and fins down for a closer look at what our friend “Bob” was up to! They observed him resting underneath the rock at the back of the observation area, and were careful not to disturb him. We are still yet to confirm exactly what he has been munching on down there! But we have found a range of invertebrates and sponges to be present in this area during previous studies. Let’s hope “Bob” and “Bill” hang around for the rest of the season!

A green turtle nest that was relocated by Ton (a local villager that is monitoring nesting beaches for Phuket Marine Biological Center), hatched. Naucrates team and Ton digged the nest together after hatching in order to estimate the hatching success: 77 babies out of 80 eggs were safely released into the ocean.

The team is reduced to Alessandra (leader), Thomas (assistant) and Sheila (volunteer)...they are making a big effort to do all the turtle work... IF YOU ARE FREE ....WE NEED VOLUNTEERS!

Today in the morning Alessandra found a big green turtle nest with 130 fresh eggs. the nest was partially flooded, so she has carefully relocated it in a safe place near GBB resort. After the relocation she continued the monitoring and found a new green turtle track (most probably A nest) at km 4,8 of beach1....what a day! NAUCRATES TEAM

On our arrival on the island nine turtle nests were identified by local villagers collaborating with Naucrates team. Three of them hatched and more than 150 babies were released into the Andaman Sea.

On 11 January a fresh leatherback nest was discovered on the beach. The location of eggs was identified and it is now protected by the team and the villagers.

In the last few days, a hawksbill was observed from the observation point in the morning and in the afternoon feeding in the area. As every year in January, Naucrates participated in the local celebration of Children Day. The team went to Thung Dap village and spent the day with the community. Let’s see what happens next week….