Turtle Watch
Dive-In Joins forces with WSBA Turtle Watch Akrotiri
Matt Cascarina, President of WSBA Turtle Watch Akrotiri, came to Dive-In and gave the staff and newly qualified PADI Instructors a presentation on what his organization does on the Island of Cyprus to combat the alarming decline of Green and Loggerhead turtles that use the Akrotiri peninsular to breed and nest.
WSBA Turtle Watch Akrotiri is run by a friendly group of volunteers who gladly give up their free time to do whatever it takes to help these amazing creatures survive. The group is made up of service personnel, their families and civilians both expatriate and Cypriot and now also Dive-In members of staff.
WSBA Turtle Watch Akrotiri was
formed in 1991. Members dedicate their time to
monitoring nesting females and their incubating nests.
Once the female has returned to the sea, volunteers
remove their tracks and then cover the nests with mesh
to protect it by preventing excavation by dogs and
foxes. The hatching date is estimated and the nest is
routinely monitored during incubation. At the first
signs of movement a cage is placed over the nest to
protect the young until they can be released in
controlled numbers into the sea. After the second night
of hatching, the Turtle Watch team excavate the
nest so that valuable information may be detailed about
its content, such as numbers of live, infertile eggs and
sadly dead hatchlings too. Without the help of the
Turtle Watch team there
could be up to twenty hatchlings
that would not otherwise make it out of the nest.
Removing contents of the nests is important as it stops
dogs and foxes who could use the scent to find other
nests.
The hatchlings have to make their own way to the sea as it is widely believed that during the short journey from the nest to the sea they pick use chemical senses to map the nesting site for its return maybe twenty to thirty years later. Turtle Watch members may only assist by raking the sand to give them a smooth path to the sea as beach litter and ruts left by vehicles can trap hatchlings on their way down the beach.
All the members of Turtle Watch gladly give up their free time to do whatever it takes to help these amazing creatures survive.
The newly qualified PADI Instructors and Dive-In staff collected £210.00 which was donated to Matt Cascarina and the voluntary Turtle Watch Akrotiri organization and all participants signed up as members.
Scuba Diving and Diver Training Company in Cyprus, with five professionally-staffed and newly-equipped centres in Larnaca, Limassol and Paphos Cyprus.
With nearly two decades' of Scuba Diving experience on the island and our highest awards as PADI CDC, 5 * IDC and 5 * Gold Palm Resorts, you can be assured that there are no shortcuts to safe and proper scuba diver training in Cyprus. We can train and advance all levels of diver from novice, beginner, or inexperienced divers to professional divers. We also have a Centre of Excellence only a four kilometre drive from the popular resort of Limassol, Dive-In has created this Amazing Complex and dedicated it to all levels of GO-PRO PADI Professional Scuba Diver Training.
Access to this fantastic Centre is just so easy we are two minutes drive from the Islands main highway and only 40 minutes drive from the Paphos or Larnaca International Airports. This complex is ideally suited for all career minded Scuba divers who demand the very best from PADI Instructor Training. We can arrange competitive International flights to Paphos or Larnaca airport in Cyprus, and we can also arrange Airport transfers if necessary. The island of Cyprus can offer dives starting from a shallow depth right to true deep sea diving here at dive-in Cyprus we can organise diving vacations and holidays.