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After about a year they are tagged on their flippers with<br />
titanium tags giving the contact details of the resort<br />
in case they are found by anyone, and released into<br />
the wild. Previously some of the released turtles were<br />
fitted with satellite responders and radio transmitters;<br />
something which Mirta hopes to do again in the future.<br />
Some of them were tracked after leaving Banyan Tree<br />
Vabbinfaru to locations as far away as Sumatra, the<br />
Middle East, Sri Lanka and the Seychelles, Mirta says.<br />
“It’s proof that they’re surviving,” she adds.<br />
Mirta and the team also receive many calls about injured<br />
turtles which people have found on other islands.<br />
“Our lagoon cage has one section especially for<br />
rescued turtles,” says Mirta. “For example, we once<br />
looked after Holly the turtle, who was found at Holiday<br />
Island Resort. She was a loggerhead turtle which was<br />
found entangled in a net. We collected Holly and kept<br />
her in our lagoon cage for one week because she had<br />
40<br />
injuries from where she had been<br />
trapped in the net. One flipper had<br />
been chopped off. After a week she<br />
could dive again, so we let her go. We<br />
try to interfere as little as possible with<br />
‘born free’ turtles.”<br />
The successful programme at Banyan<br />
Tree Vabbinfaru has been rolled out to<br />
the company’s sister resorts, Angsana<br />
Velavaru and Angsana Ihuru. The<br />
teams have also shared their expertise<br />
with marine biologists based at Four<br />
Seasons Resorts Maldives.<br />
As with the Banyan Tree Resorts’<br />
programme, guests and local school<br />
children visiting Four Seasons Resort<br />
Kuda Huraa can learn about baby<br />
turtles at the new Marine Discovery<br />
Centre. The Marine Discovery Centre<br />
is the headquarters of the <strong>Maldivian</strong><br />
Sea Turtle Conservation Programme.<br />
The new centre has much to offer<br />
children in particular, although adults<br />
too will enjoy the colourful pictures<br />
on the walls, 3-D films and interactive<br />
computers. The marine biologists<br />
there, who are from Male’-based<br />
environmental consultancy Seamarc,<br />
hold regular lively chats about the<br />
life cycle of turtles and why it is so<br />
important to conserve them.<br />
The resort’s turtle project involves the<br />
rehabilitation of injured turtles and a<br />
local educational programme aimed<br />
at discouraging the raiding of nests.<br />
They offer to buy turtle eggs for more<br />
money than fisherman can usually<br />
sell them for, and staff have regular<br />
meetings with island councillors, egg<br />
collectors and the general public<br />
about the issue.<br />
At the time of visiting Kuda Huraa,<br />
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