Episkopi Turtlewatch Cyprus
The 2008 season is almost upon us and we have a few events planned to get ourselves ready. Please feel free to come along and join in!!
Latest News:
Beach Clean 3rd May 2008
Many thanks to everyone who took part in Saturday’s beach clean at Curium. At one stage more than 70 people were in action and together we removed more than 160 sacks of rubbish as well as enjoying plenty of entertainment along the way. Despite such a mammoth effort we ran out of bags before we could cover the second half of the beach. Consequently (and by popular acclaim) we have decided that our second major beach clean should also take place on Curium. This is by far the dirtiest beach of the ones that we cover and the one which has the most harmful litter deposited on it.
2nd Curium Beach Clean
Will take place on Saturday 17th May 2008 and we will meet at 9am in the car park of the St Ermogenis Taverna which is the taverna on the right hand side of the road down to Curium beach. It is next to the old church. Once again if you can lend a hand please email: Linda at episkopiturtlewatch@hotmail.com (but don’t expect a response until Wednesday 14 th as she is away until then). Again could you also let her know if you have a truck or trailer that can be used for ferrying rubbish? We will provide disposable gloves, water and (even more!) bags again. You will need sturdy shoes and sun protection.
Start of season get together 17th May 2008
This will take place from 12 noon at the St Ermogenis Taverna. You do not have to attend the beach clean in order to attend the get together (although obviously we would be delighted to see you at both!). The cost is €7.50 per head for a buffet with lots of choice for meat eaters and vegetarians. Drinks are extra. The taverna has a nice shady outdoor area and a playground for the kids.
The number of places available is not limited but we do have to give final numbers by the 14th . Existing and potential members and their families and friends are welcome. We would particularly like the chance to say goodbye and thank you to those of you who are moving on this year.
To book a place please contact Hilary & John Freeman by email on:
john.hilary.freeman@cytanet.com.cy or by telephone on 99 978734 or 99 229711 or 25 934236 by close of play on the 13 th May 2008.
Beach walking rota
The rota runs from 1 June to 30 August (although depending on events this may get extended). The walks take place early morning. We will be putting together the first draft of the rota shortly. In order to assist us with this please email Ruth Baker before 17 May 2008 on ruthbaker7@hotmail.com with details of:
* Which beaches you would like to walk (Curium, Tunnel, Lemmings, Long & Paramali)
* How often you would like to walk (eg once/twice a month, weekly etc)
* Your preferred days
* Any holidays etc when you are unavailable
If you do not wish to participate in the walks please also let us know. The draft rota will be circulated to you to check – it is almost inevitable that we will make some mistakes as contrary to popular belief we are human! If you are unhappy with your slots let us know quickly and we will do some rearranging where possible. If you find at a later date that you cannot do one of your walks it is not a problem, you just need to let us know in time for us to be able to cover it.
Dead or injured turtles in the SBA area
Unfortunately a seventh dead adult turtle washed up this weekend on Long Beach. If you spot a dead or injured turtle please make a careful note of its location and call 99 307296 (Linda) or 99 347296 (David) or 25 962482 (Alexia Perdiou – environment department) to report it as soon as possible. We need to assess the dead turtles and produce a report on them. If they are left in the surf or on the beach for any length of time they can ‘vanish’. We obviously need to get treatment for injured turtles quickly. Also we would like to express our thanks to those who took part in the following:
Thursday 3rd April 2008.
Many thanks to everyone who turned out to help with the clean. At least thirty bags of rubbish were collected and several nasty nets and reels of fishing wire.
Saturday 19th April 2008.
Many thanks to old friends and new who dropped by our information stand at the Episkopi Spring Fete. We had a very successful day recruiting more than twenty new families as volunteers and raising a small amount of cash toward our costs for the year.
Tuesday 22nd April 2008
Sincere thanks to all for lending a hand to clean up another of the turtle nesting beaches at Akrotiri.
Those of you who have been down to Long Beach in Paramali over the winter will have seen that much of the work undertaken by the Engineer Corps in 2007 to block off vehicle access points has been vandalised. The barriers were erected with the support of the local community and the damage will be repaired before the start of the nesting season. It is illegal to drive on any beach in any part of Cyprus. Please report offenders to the SBA police on 25 967262 but do not get involved yourself. The police and the SBAA are very keen to ensure that these beaches are not destroyed by the actions of a selfish few.
Regular visitors to this site will realise that we experienced significant difficulties with it and our photosite in 2007. We have therefore taken the decision to change website host and build a new site. Once it is up and running visitors to this site will be redirected!
There are always gaps in the rota so if you are interested in volunteering for the 2008 season please contact David or Linda Stokes on 99 307296 or by email at episkopiturtlewatch@hotmail.com
Dhekelia Turtlewatch
And let's not forget.......... Dhekelia Turtlewatch who are also be in need of volunteers for the 2008 season. Contact details are:
Jim George - 24 744211
Fiona Martin - 24 744389
Alternatively contact David or Linda Stokes on 99 307296 or by email episkopiturtlewatch@hotmail.com and they will pass your details on to Jim and Fiona
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We are all volunteers from the area and anyone who lives locally is welcome to help. You do not need a military pass, we issue a club pass which will allow access to Happy Valley beaches. During the turtle nesting season (June to September) we patrol all our beaches on a rota basis early in the day looking for adult turtle tracks that might lead to a turtle nest. If found, we protect the nest with a special cage for the seven week incubation. When the turtles emerge we supervise and protect them on their crawl to the sea, collate their numbers and make this data available to the Cyprus Fisheries Department.
We also have other volunteer roles plus the possibility of seeing turtle hatchlings during nest excavations.
As well as all that, we make information available to the general public raising awareness of the Sea Turtles of Cyprus and the ways that everyone can help them!
Where are we?
Our coastline
[TurtlYes] [Volunteering] [Everyone can help]
