Volunteer with Turtles in Sri Lanka

Patrol turtle nesting beach and help at Turtle hospital in Sri Lanka

An amazing project saving sea turtles! This sea turtle conservation volunteer project needs you and your friends.
Go beyond the default sea turtle conservation with this new and exciting project. Experience the night watch and night beach patrol every night, medical sea turtle treatment, sea turtle research and of course the hatching, feeding and release of baby turtles.

We are super excited to announce this new sea turtle conservation volunteer project in Sri Lanka. Volunteer activities include turtle night watch and night beach patrol, medical treatment of sea turtles, a sea turtle research program and the hatching, feeding and release of baby turtles!

We’re also supporting the construction of a sea turtle hospital at this project


Night watch
Make sure that the turtles are not disturbed when laying eggs and the eggs are not stolen or eaten by predators there is the night watch, every night without fail. There is also night patrol across the beach to see if there are any eggs laid by the sea turtles and to stop poachers from stealing eggs.

Sea turtle medical treatment
All wounded sea turtles are treated here by natural/herbal medication.

Research
If you are interested in research you can do so. A small number of turtles stay at the hatchery for about three years and fed the natural food which they would eat out in the sea, i.e algae and the little fish. After three years, when these sea turtles are strong and healthy, they are tagged and released. This experiment is to find ways of increasing sea turtle survival rate.

Turtle Hospital
The project is currently trying to open its first turtle hospital to treat sick and injured turtles using the Ayurveda system of treatment. The costs of such a project are huge. Therefore it would be really beneficial for the project if you could help in raising funds for the turtle hospital. If you feel like raising funds at home before or after coming you can donate those to LEO Project Foundation directly.

Egg collection
Your day could be filled with making a log of the different types of turtle eggs collected from the fishermen and beach, burying these eggs, watching them hatch, hand feeding the baby turtles and cleaning their tanks.

Sharing knowledge
After lunch volunteers have the option to stay at the turtle conservation project and act as guide to the tourists. It is very busy with local and foreign tourists and it is important for all to understand the value of saving these amazing sea turtles from extinction so they in turn can help saving these wonderful creatures.

After sunset
Reap the rewards of your hard work and participate in the most amazing activity of this project. Enjoy the last phase of your efforts guiding the baby turtles from hatchling to a promising new life! After sunset you can experience the highlight of the project by releasing the hatchlings in to the sea which really is a breath taking moment.

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Itinerary / Highlights

Project runs throughout the year.


Work chart Monday to Friday;

Secure the areas where the eggs are buried to ensure that eggs are safe from predators.

Buy eggs from poachers including fisherman and bury these eggs secured area and mark the date the eggs were buried & check the dates and observe signs for any emerging new hatchlings in the area where the eggs are buried to ensure that the new hatch-lings are protected from predators such as birds, dogs, mongoose and snakes before the hatch-lings emerge.

Clean tanks – this is a whole days work done once a week to ensure clean sea water tanks for the turtles at all times.

Feed the Turtles including the blind turtles individually and ensure they have enough food to eat and purchase any necessary fish from local fisherman.

Check on the baby turtles and make a note of any sick and injured ones also check on the baby turtles for blindness before they are released.

Raise turtle conservation awareness with local tourist and local public and make sure the public do not put hands in the tanks in order to prevent contamination and distress to the turtles.

Night Patrol is carried out to spot any turtles laying eggs and if any eggs are laid in an unsafe area, to move these eggs to safe ground. If any turtles are spotted laying eggs volunteers are requested not to disturb them as they approach the nesting ground. Once the turtles start laying eggs volunteers have the opportunity to watch them, also measure the turtles and to carry out research work for conservation purposes.

Beach cleaning will be done by volunteers to ensure all debris specially plastic waste is removed and to keep a clean beach for the turtles to lay eggs.

Departure Dates, Options & Prices

Starts every Sunday.

GBP495 for 2 weeks
GBP115 per additional week

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