Inspecting a nest, Angola Field Group annual overnight Turtle Trip. Photo courtesy Susannah.

Inspecting a nest, Angola Field Group annual overnight Turtle Trip. Photo courtesy Susana Borges.

Since 2004 the Angola Field Group has joined members of the Agostinho Neto University team of biology students who patrol the beaches of Angola during turtle nesting season from September to March.

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On December 2012 we camped at the project’s new site where Rio Longa empties into the ocean. While walking the beach at night hoping to find a turtle laying her eggs, we found instead 5 dead turtles in various locations along the beach.

Dead Olive Ridley female turtle. Photo courtesy Susana Borges.

Dead Olive Ridley female turtle. Photo courtesy Susana Borges.

One of the biggest threats female turtles encounter along the Angolan coast as they come ashore to lay their eggs, is the risk of getting caught in a fishing net and strangling. The number of nets launched too close to shore keeps increasing. Projecto Kitabanga works with fishing communities raising awareness and teaching them about the vulnerable condition of turtles in the world today. The university team also works with children and schools in the fishing villages. The project created the book “Tartarugando”, a colorful teaching tool.

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More than five hundred thousand baby turtles have been born on beaches under the protection of the Kitabanga Project.

Freshly hatched baby leatherbacks find their way to the water. Photo courtesy M. Mohlerova.

Freshly hatched baby leatherbacks find their way to the water. Photo courtesy M. Mohlerova.