If you’ve gotten this far, thank you for reading my blog! I have created this blog in hope that we can reflect on our perceptions and values for turtles, and to think about how we can be more mindful of the decisions we make everyday. The little decisions we make may impact turtle conservation both directly and indirectly.

I’m Regine, a first year PhD student at the Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering, Nanyang Technological University.

My passion lies in wildlife conservation and I hope to be able to contribute in research and to discover how we can better protect our natural ecosystems and wildlife. Sea turtles have always been one of my favourite animals growing up and it is such a privilege to study them!

With Donut on the dunes of Alagadi Turtle Beach in Northern Cyprus

© Regine Tiong

In the summer of 2019, I had the opportunity to volunteer for Society for the Protection of Turtles (SPOT) in Northern Cyprus for a month, where I got to work with sea turtles for the very first time! During the day, we would look for nests which were laid overnight and cover them with wire meshes to protect the eggs from predation by dogs and foxes. During the night, we would record all nesting activities and take measurements of the nesting mothers. Night work was my favourite as I was able to observe the majestic green turtles and cute loggerhead turtles through their long and tiring process of nesting.

I named this big beauty Donut, and she was the most persevering momma green turtle I’ve encountered. Through the night, she came up onto the shore at least 3 times and travelled at least 50m up into the dunes each time, eventually making her way back to the ocean after failing to find an ideal spot to nest. For the final time, she emerged from the water and made her way up the dunes once again and she finally nested at the break of dawn.

She has inspired me to never give up and taught me that there are some things worth fighting for.

Hawksbill turtle hatchlings rushing into the ocean on the Sisters’ Islands, Singapore. (© Regine Tiong)

Click below to find out more about the sea turtles in Singapore, my research and the references used for this blog!