Turtle Project

Datai Bay was once a site for turtles to nest (the last sighting prior to the year 2021 was in the late ‘90s). Since 2021, we have been working hard to regain the bay as a turtle-friendly beach by creating the right conditions. 

Our efforts have included the following: 

- Reducing the artificial lighting on the beach at night and installing turtle-friendly lighting. 

- Planting trees such as Beach Naupaka (scaevola taccada), under which turtles prefer to dig their nests. The trees serve to protect the eggs.

- Creating an ex-situ hatchery in Datai Bay. The hatchery is placed above ground to prevent the eggs from being consumed by monitor lizards and other predators. Eggs will be incubated here for a period of 60 days and closely monitored.

In December 2021, a turtle landing was noted in Datai Bay. The absence of any electronic tagging on the flippers of this female Hawksbill Turtle indicated a high probability that she had been born in Datai Bay and was returning here to nest. Whilst the turtle did not survive, she did lay a cluster of eggs which encouraged our efforts to make the bay a turtle-friendly beach. Since then, we have witnessed a few other turtle landings and also, unfortunately, turtles washed ashore, often caught in ghost nets.