Centre duties with Atoll Marine Centre

Mornings here at Atoll Marine Centre start similarly. In order to keep the centre running smoothly there are daily tasks we have to complete each day to ensure the turtles are looked after well. Our volunteers start the mornings with Centre duties at 9:30am each morning. At the beginning of the week me and Amy (volunteer coordinator) set out a weekly schedule of the plans for the week, outlining any specific jobs that need to be added to morning duties each day and any planned activities for the afternoons such as snorkel clean ups, beach cleans, upcycling sessions etc. 

I split tasks into Tank Duties and Centre Dutes: 

E.g. Tank duties: 

Sweeping tanks & Water changes 

The water for our tanks is pumped directly in from the sea. Each tank has its own net (used to remove any large matter such as poo or uneaten food) and also a desginated brush which is used to sweep any smaller debris down the plug to keep the tanks and water as clean as possible. Whilst this is done water is drained from the tank (between 20% to 80%), the plug is then replaced and water refilled. This is done daily to ensure clean water is circulated in the tank. 

Any enrichment in the tanks also is cleaned and either replaced or new enrichment is given as needed. One example is palm leaves, the turtles like scratching on them and hiding under them in their tanks. 

As part of centre duties volunteers also take temperature and salinty measurements of the water from each tank to monitor levels. 

  

Centre Duties: One of the first tasks that needs to be done in the morning is to defrost food from the freezer for the turtles to allow food prep to happen. 

We feed the turtles a combination of Tuna, Shrimp, Squid, Crabs and Mussels. Their diets are calculated by our Vet and are based on 5% of their body weight. Food needs to be weighed, cut and recorded each day. We have a special slate where the amount of food weighed out is written and any feeding notes can be reocorded. 

On Mondays we give multivitamins to the turtles, and on wednesday we give added calcium tablets. Monday is also live crab feeding day! On Sunday evenings after dinner we go crabbing on the beach to collect crabs to feed the turtles the next day, it can be very funny watching everyone running around trying to catch the crabs in the dark. 

Once food prep is done the turtles can be fed. For any buoyant turtles who can't dive, they are tong fed. For our turtles who can dive we just throw the food in for them. Sunday is enrichment feeding day, where the turtles are given extra enrichment methods during feeding time, this includes things like having to find food that is inside coconuts, or putting food in weighted pvc pipes with holes etc. rather than just tong feeding. 

Our green turtle Hope is also given seagrass daily, this means volunteers need to collect sea grass from the nearby seagrass beds each morning. The sea grass that is collected is then fed into a sea grass tunnel so she can graze on it as she would a segrasss bed in the wild. Other centre duties include keeping the centre as clean and tidy as possible, things such as washing, hanging up and folding away turtle towels each day, Raking the centre floor, Washing up after food prep and Washing Food tubs after feeding. 

On Sundays, Tuesday and Thursdays we also welcome regular visits from Kanifushi resort to our centre at 10:30am. Either one of the Interns or myself give the guests a presentation on basic turtle biology and AMC before giving a tour of the centre and introducing the guests to the turtles. On these days the presentation room has to be tidied and benches brushed down before guests arrive. 

Every other week is also Tank cleaning week, this means we take the turtles out of their tanks and do an 100% water change and scrub and bleach the tanks to fully clean them before refilling and moving the turtle back. 

Every other week on a Friday is also turtle weighing day, with every other weighing day also being measuring day. For turtle weighing I show the volunteers how to safely pick up and handle each turtle (as this depends on their injuries), they are then weighed before we then scrub and clean their carapaces. This is to clean and remove excess alage build up on their carapaces. In the wild turtles will visit cleaning stations where fish will eat algae from their carapaces, and they also scratch and rub their carapaces on rocks to remove excess build up. Turtles are sensitive to touch and can feel through their carapace so we make sure not to scrub to hard. Each turtle has its own tub with its own designated toothbrushes and sponges to reduce the chance of contamination and spread of any diseases. 

Turtle scrubbing day or 'spa day' is the volunteers favourite. 

On thursday afternoons we also do beach surveys and litter picks on Velaa beach (outside the centre) where we are doing a 15m transect at three sites on the beach recording any litter found along the transect, and cleaning the area as we go. This is to create a long term dataset of litter found on the beach. 

Friday afternoons tends to be the day where I give new volunteers a sea turtle biology presentation.