35 St Cloud University students and Mana In house guests and staff attended the E day to mark World Turtle Day.
The event was organized by the Mana Environment team with the assistance of MES. Displays on the Mamanuca Sea turtle conservation project were put up with flyers and turtle id books distributed for further information.
Kids club members had a coloring competition before a short presentation by MES staff. The presentation focused on the conservation of endangered turtles emphasizing on the biological cycle of the turtles and how the communities and resorts in the Mamanuca can take part in the protection of these sea turtles.
A short brief of the Mana Rehabilitation program was also explained to the guests and how the restoration of corals also provides feeding areas for these turtles. Hard corals were planted on a table with the assistance of the Mana staff and guest before the table was transferred to North reef edge.
A 2 years old Hawksbill turtle was tagged and released by Mana General Manager to mark the event.
Measurement of the turtle was done by MES and information of the tag recorded which will be entered into the TRED database which is monitored by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme.
TA Learning Centre Kindergarten class celebrated World Turtle Day on an excursion trip to Wailoaloa Beach. A short presentation on turtle conservation, lifecycle and migration pattern and the importance of turtle conservation was explained to the 8 students and 2 teachers. MES gave out turtle awareness stickers and flyers and id books to read.
Proper waste management was also emphasized to encourage more turtle visiting our waters to feed and nest on clean beaches. The marked event ended with a beach survey, studying marine organisms that live on the beach.
