Cleaning up for the love of turtles |24 November 2014

Turtle nesting season in Seychelles generally runs from around the end of August until late February. This year, the Seychelles National Parks Authority (SNPA), Ste Anne Resort and the University of Seychelles (UniSey) teamed up to clean up two nesting beaches on Ste Anne Island. The aim of the clean-up was to remove any marine debris washed up on the beaches, so as to create space where turtles can nest.

The clean-up took place on Saturday November 2, when a group of UniSey students and lecturers, plus staff from the SNPA took the Ferry to Ste Anne Island.

After a 10-minute boat ride, we were greeted by Charles Simeon, the sports and leisure duty manager, at Ste Anne Resort. The clean-up team were provided with gloves, bin-bags, pre-packed snacks and refreshments before splitting up into two groups to cover the two beaches. Those with higher endurance went walking for about an hour to Anse Manon. The other group went to Anse Cabot, located about 30 minutes walking distance from the island’s only jetty.

It was a pleasant day, the perfect condition for a clean-up. Ste-Anne is still very beautiful, with view points along the trail which allows one to observe the nearby islands of Cerf and Round.

On the way to Anse Cabot we got to see the ruins of the old National Youth Service (NYS) village, where trees have grown over the buildings and most of the roofs have disappeared. However, the concrete roads are still intact.

When we arrived at the secluded Anse Cabot, there was no one around, except for lizards in the bushes and crabs scurrying along the shore. As everyone was excited about the activity at hand, we all put on our gloves and grabbed our large bin bags to pick up as much trash as we could.

Most of the rubbish we saw had definitely been transported by sea, e.g. bits of surfboards and water bottles. There was a lot of small bits of styrofoam, gunny bags, plastics and old sandals. I could not comprehend how an old, large toy car had ended up on the beach at Ste Anne. Could it have travelled all the way from Cerf Island? Did it come off a ship?

We also picked up some floating debris in the nearby swamp. Two guys from UniSey tried with all their might to remove a huge nylon rope stuck in the swamp, but to no avail. After collecting some 10, large bags of rubbish, it was time for some refreshments and to prepare lunch.

After lunch, most of the UniSey students decided to cool off in the clear blue sea. Soon it was time to head back to the jetty and Mahé. We hope the turtles find the clean white sandy beaches on Ste Anne welcoming.

Contributed by Isabelle Ravinia from SNPA