Carla Daniels has led Barbados Sea Turtle Project for 15-years, protecting the island’s migratory and permanent sea turtle population. Seven-days a week, 24-hours a day, Carla (and an army of local and international volunteers) search the island for sea turtles. It’s a wonder she ever finds time to sleep as her phone rings perpetually.
In June, I documented Carla and the Sea Turtle Project for Nature journal during an evening patrolling Barbados’s south-shore Brandon’s Beach. We walked up and down the beach for hours as waves crashed against the sargassum-covered seashore.
Periodically, Carla stopped, observing signs of turtle activity. Sometimes she found turtles – including the hawksbill sea turtle below – entranced while laying eggs. Other times, she found nesting sites and carefully erased their sign of their existence to keep people and other predators away.
Her work is part of the University of the West Indies and funded by large and small groups. Learn more about the organization here and read her first-person account of her role (and see my photo) here.
