Each year from April to October, the black-sanded Saba Beach in East Bali becomes a nesting habitat for sea turtles. Pregnant turtles return to the beaches where they themselves hatched years before, searching for a nesting spot above the high-water mark. After using her back flippers to dig a nest in the sand, they will lay up to 100 eggs, which incubate in the warm sand for roughly two months.
During this time, feral dogs, monitor lizards and human predation of turtle eggs, fishing accidents and beach erosion can become major threats to sea turtles in this area. The self-funded Saba Asri Sea Turtle Conservation continuously performs egg-rescue and beach cleaning, providing a safe hatching facility and treatment center for injured turtles. The conservation center is operated by local fishermen who care about sustaining the existence of these endangered marine reptiles.
We invite you to visit this simple facility for a volunteering activity to support the local conservation efforts and gain first-hand experience of working with sea turtles. After an introduction and briefing about the life of sea turtles, get ready to prepare turtle food, feed the turtles, clean their tanks and assist in research, monitoring and record keeping.
Once your work is complete, you will be rewarded with the unique opportunity of releasing the hatchlings safely into the ocean. A certificate is provided as appreciation for your valuable efforts to give sea turtles a better chance of survival.
