Turtle Monitoring Intern, Mauritius

The Blue Lagoon and Coral Reef Monitoring programme focuses on the protection, preservation and restoration of the marine and coastal environment in the Blue Bay and Pointe d’Esny regions of Mauritius. The island is an important place for ocean conservation. Alongside a Mauritian NGO, volunteers and interns work to protect natural resources from threats of pollution and destruction. These often come as a consequence of inconsiderate development and lack of awareness on the island.

As the Sea Turtle Monitoring intern, your primary duty is to lead and train the volunteers in their various activities.  These include:

• Conducting hawksbill sea turtle surveys within the Blue Bay Marine Park.
• Estimating the actual population of turtles in the Blue Bay MPA.
• Determining the degree of residency of turtles in the MPA.
• Determining the period spent away from the MPA.
• Determining the importance of the MPA as a foraging site.
• Determining stressors on the population.

The data and photo IDs will need to be collected and recorded properly so that as much data on the behaviour of the different individuals living in the Marine Park can be obtained.  You will be doing this from a glass-bottom boat or by snorkelling.  You should, therefore, be a good swimmer and snorkeller.

You will also have the opportunity to be involved in the other important activities that all volunteers are involved within the Blue Lagoon. You can also look forward to getting hands-on with beach cleaning, coral farming, mangrove planting, sea turtle monitoring and local community projects!

Location

Mauritius is, with La Réunion and Rodrigues, an island in the Mascarene Archipelago, located in the Indian Ocean at approximately 2000 km off the coast of Africa and 900 km from Madagascar. Set on a breathtaking lagoon, the volunteer project is situated in Pointe d’Esny, on the South East coast of Mauritius. Mahébourg is a colourful and lively town, steeped in Mauritian history.

Accommodation

For this volunteer project in Mauritius, lodging is primarily situated around the area of Pointe D’Esny. The nearest town, Mahebourg, is 20 minutes away by public transport. A welcome tour will be given by one of our staff upon arrival in order to provide you with general knowledge of the area.

This is a part of an NGO and non-profit organisation. For that reason, interns do not receive a monthly salary or allowance. Interns have to provide (but can be assisted in finding) their own accommodation and transport and will have to pay their own food and living costs.

You should bring your own beach towel. Internet is available for volunteers to use at the office (on the top floor) and you can use the office PC after work hours. We would advise you to bring your own phone, while a sim card can be obtained at a cost. There are local restaurants and eateries very close by and you can locally purchase food to cook your meals. Did you know, seafood is a staple of Mauritian cuisine, which has Asian, Indian, French and British influences?

Internship Positions General Required skills/qualifications

Must be familiar with Microsoft Excel and Word.
Must have strong swimming skills.
Must be able to work both independently and in a team.
Must get a student visa (we can provide information on how to do this. If you are currently a student and you can stay up to 5 months, and if not, a tourist visa lasts for up to 3 months max).

Project Dates

Internships last between 2 and 5 months, with volunteers able to join at any time throughout the year.