There are 7 species of sea turtles around the globe. We’re lucky enough that 5 of these are found in Mozambique’s waters! Of those 5, 2 species nest on our shores: loggerheads and leatherbacks. Currently there is no protection for these animals in our area and the nests are vulnerable to poaching, foot traffic, cars, light pollution and scavengers. With your help, we can post 24/7 guards to ensure the hatchlings get as good of a chance as possible to make it back to the ocean.

Clutch sizes vary a lot, but leatherbacks generally lay 50 – 100 eggs, whereas loggerheads lay slightly more, averaging 100 – 150. The eggs are soft so whilst there are some projects around the world that relocate nests, LTO has decided not to do this because of the high mortality rates when turtle eggs are touched.

Females will generally return to the same beach they were laid on, to nest themselves! However, turtles are slow growers – it takes loggerheads 20 – 25 years to reach maturity, and leatherbacks 15 – 25 years. Turtles also have low survival rates, it’s estimated about 1 in 1000 hatchlings make it to adulthood. That is why it is so important to protect these animals by adopting or sponsoring a nest! 

Our turtle patrols are out every morning, before sunrise to locate and post guards at any new nests found. We’re aiming for as close to 100% survival rate as possible. With the combination of patrols, guards and educational workshops we’re optimistic we’ll achieve this!