Welcome back to all you budding turtleliers! November generally marks the beginning of the busy nesting season, from the turtles' point of view that is! This has been our first full month of monitoring and for all but one evening the committed Gugu and MB have laboured to capture all the necessary data. The newly trained turtle monitors, Muntu and Siphiwe, spent some quality time learning the finer details of what is required of them as far as the turtle monitoring goes. Muntu is likely to start taking out drives unassisted very soon, Siphiwe on the other hand is anxious to get out on his walks to share his new found knowledge and experiences.

Though the turtles are extremely tough creatures by nature the weather held them at bay for a good few days this month. The seas were rough and the unrelenting waves pounded the coast for the better part of three weeks. The leatherbacks seem not to worry that much about the weather, however, their smaller cousins preferred to sit tight until more favourable conditions permitted a hassle-free march up the beach.

Hassle-free is a relative term though, as we have begun noticing nest predation by both honey badgers and monitor lizards. The principles of natural selection may be difficult to accept, especially when we apply our human emotions to them. The most devastating effects on turtle populations are by far the human impact (both directly and on their environment), so look beyond the badgers, lizards and birds and try to see where you can make a difference to turtle prosperity... Adopt a turtle!

On a more positive note: the turtle monitoring officials up in the Kosi-Bangha Nek area have been recording up to 40 turtles a night! This is fantastic and it goes to show that the conservation efforts of everyone involved are really paying off. This localised mass nesting is thought have been caused by a nest relocation programme some years ago, where vulnerable turtle nests outside protected areas were moved into the sanctuary of the Kosi-Bangha Nek area. The mass nesting also helps to prove that hatchlings return to nest on the very beach where they were born.

Turtle fever has reached new levels of enthusiasm, and we now offer a kiddies' turtle research training activity - complete with the actual tags and tagging equipment used for the real thing. The objective of the activity is to "learn while having fun", and we're sure it's going to be a real hit! No more on this, I don't want to spoil the surprise...

Monthly summary: (Percentages are of the total recorded)

Loggerhead
113 recorded - 89%
62 nested - 55%
21 tagged - 19%
5 micro-chipped - 4%
24 adopted

Leatherback
14 recorded - 11%
12 nested - 86%
4 tagged - 29%
4 micro-chipped - 29%
12 adopted

The weather has settled down and the water temperatures are at a stable 24°C (75°F), all of which means that things are only going to get better. If we will be seeing you in December don't miss out on a turtle activity; we will have daily, (rather nightly) walks and drives so everyone will get a turn.

P.S. Don't forget that we have many mothers looking for loving homes, so do the right thing and adopt a turtle! Or two ... or three ...

Look after yourselves over this festive season and we will see you back here next month!