Turtle walk

A turtle walk or turtle patrol is a traverse of a beach to observe or conserve sea turtles. Conservation activities include collection of turtle eggs to relocate them to a safer place and clearing plastic waste. When turtle hatchlings emerge, volunteers may assist them into the sea.
Costa Rica
The beaches of Tortuguero are a major site for nesting turtles and are protected as a national park. To conserve the turtles from threats such as over-harvesting, a programme of dispersal was tried but this was not successful. The strategy is now to promote ecotourism with the turtles as an attraction and local villagers are trained as guides. Walks to observe the nesting turtles require a certified guide and this controls and minimises disturbance of the beaches. It also gives the locals a financial interest in conservation and the guides now defend the turtles from threats such as poaching. Thousands of people are involved in turtle walks, and substantial revenues accrue from the fees paid for the privilege.
India
Romulus Whitaker's 'turtle walks' begun in the early 1970s,<ref name=H/> with turtle monitoring and survey programme on the Chennai coast.<ref nameShanker/> Ann Joseph,<ref nameH/> working at the Madras Snake Park, helped with setting up World Wildlife Fund activities in Mumbai and then became involved with the turtle walk. Due to her efforts, the popularity of the walks grew and many college students joined in. Later Preston Ahimaz<ref nameH/> the WWF coordinator and then Bhanumathi, continued the turtle walks for many years. The eggs that were collected in these walks were relocated in one of the Forest Department's hatcheries on the coast.<ref nameShanker/> The ultimate turtle walker though was Satish Bhaskar. In a period of around 4 years in the 1970s, Satish walked over 4,000 km along the Indian coastline collecting information on sea turtles, their tracks and their nesting. Satish walked in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Odisha and most parts of the mainland coast.<ref name=Shanker/>
The turtle hatcheries in Chennai were operated first by the Madras Snake Park, followed by the CMFRI and Tamil Nadu Forest Department. By the late 1980s, the state hatcheries in Tamil Nadu were closed due to lack of funding and the programme returned to the NGOs.<ref nameShanker/> Once the forest department closed down their hatcheries in the late 1980s, two ambitious youngsters formed a students' group in 1998 - the Students' Sea Turtle Conservation Network (SSTCN), which set up hatcheries and continued the turtle walks in Chennai. This volunteer group continues to patrol the beach every night and organises public turtle walks every weekend in the turtle season. The Tree Foundation also conducts public turtle walks during the season.<ref nameShanker/>
United States
Volunteers in other places use vehicles such as beach buggies to look for turtle nests and hatching. In Florida, they are organised as the Turtle Patrol.<ref name=TITS/>
Other Places
Turtle patrols and walks take place in
* São Tomé and Príncipe<ref name=STP/>
* Sham Wan in Hong Kong<ref name=SCMP/>

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