Gypsy Vet Nurse

Where to begin….of all of my volunteering and work abroad, this part of my life gave me some of my best memories, friends and life experiences. This is the kind of place you go to learn, get inspired, fall in love and heal your soul. I have travelled a lot and seen many beautiful places, however this island won me over in every possible way. From the pristine white sandy beaches spanning the circumference to the magical jungle covering the middle, this island has everything you could hope for in a paradise retreat. With just a 3km circumference, it only takes 45 minutes to walk around at a leisurely stroll. I came to this island in a stroke of luck having made a friend in a hospital ward (long story, involving a moped in Thailand – shocking I know) and swapping details. 6 months later I couldn’t believe the feeling of awe I had as I looked upon the island for the first time, amazed that this would be my home! 

Pulau Tengah, or Batu Batu island as many people call it due to the beautiful eco-island resort: Batu Batu, is one of many islands off of the south east coast of Malaysia that host nesting grounds for Hawksbill and Green sea turtles. Unfortunately the number of these amazing creatures is dwindling due to a number of reasons, with most being due to human activity. Green sea turtles are endangered with numbers decreasing, and Hawksbill turtles are critically endangered with decreasing numbers of nests being laid each year. They are slaughtered for their meat, and their shells and skin are used for jewellery, sunglasses, tourist trinkets, instruments, and wall hangings. The hawksbill in particular is valued for its shell which is used for ornamental purposes. As if this wasn’t awful enough, poachers trawl beaches to dig up nests and steal their eggs. This is because the eggs are still very commonly eaten as a delicacy in Malaysia, as well as many other countries. Pollution and irresponsible fishing are also huge factors, each year hundreds of millions of sea animals die due to plastic ingestion and around 5000 sea turtles drown caught in fishing nets. Climate change is having devastating effects on populations as the rise in ocean temperatures destroy their habitats and decrease food. Melting polar ice caps and rising sea levels means we are constantly losing nesting beaches and nests themselves are being drowned.

In a bid to support the species’, the island resorts diving instructors, the local Marine Park and the owner of the resort himself combined forces and a conservation team was formed in 2014, and has been going strong ever since. This team endeavoured to protect nesting sea turtles and their eggs against human poachers and predators such as monitor lizards, snakes, crabs and wild pigs (yes this island has a HUGE variety of exciting species!) They therefore designed and built the hatchery to house and protect the eggs and collect much needed data on the species by recording nest size, hatch rates, species population etc. The organisation was initially funded by the resort owners, a remarkably forward thinking Malaysian family who care deeply about the conservation of sea turtles and all marine life (not to mention they are just wonderful human beings). Over time the project has become almost fully self-sufficient with funds predominantly provided by donations from the guests staying at the resort on the island, and also by the contributions given by volunteers. 

 

My role, daily tasks and responsibilities and perks of the job!

I was lucky enough to have the position of Marine Analyst (which is essentially the marine biologist role for someone with a veterinary nursing qualification instead). I was part of a two person conservation team who lived on the island for the entire nesting season (March-November). Aside from ourselves we had up to 8 volunteers at a time, staying from 1 week to several months at times (it really is difficult to bring yourself to leave). Volunteers would assist with most daily tasks, including beach cleanups, hatchery cleaning and maintenance, nest excavations, educational talks and beach patrols.

A basic rehabilitation protocol was created as we often found hatchlings born deformed or just not yet strong enough to swim out to sea and begin their journey. We would house and feed them, and provide veterinary care when needed. Nesting sea turtles would usually come up to lay their eggs at night, therefore we would regularly patrol the beaches in shifts throughout the night to look for tracks and signs of a nest so that we could protect and/or relocate the eggs before the predators or poachers could get to them. We would also check the hatchery and nests themselves, and if new hatchlings were seen they would be counted, weighed and measured for data collection and then immediately released on a protected part of the beach to give them the best possible chance of survival. Nights are usually the height of activity for sea turtles and therefore it was the same for us! Daytime routines were kept flexible as sometimes we needed naps to account for the 4am call out to dig up a new nest of eggs or release hundreds of little hatchlings! 

We also worked very closely with the diving instructor team to coordinate dives for underwater cleanups, coral reef monitoring, fish species identification and counts, net removals, coral transplanting, the building of a coral nursery to promote new coral reef growth, and good old fashioned fun dives! The diving there was unbelievable, crystal clear waters with up to 15-20m visibility, little to no currents, shallow (therefore relaxed) long dives, and a huge variety of things to see from sharks, clown fish, many types of rays, and of course sea turtles! If you are not a diver there is still plenty to see and do, many of the reefs are only 5 metres deep so even going for a snorkel is amazing. 

The organisation has now expanded and includes conservation of many more marine species than just the sea turtles. They are still working on all of the marine projects mentioned above, and now some terrestrial ones like a tree nursery, invasive species and beach profile monitoring.

These are all general tasks and responsibilities. Every day we would be faced with a new obstacle or would be embarking on a new project. For example, one day a large green sea turtle washed up dead on the beach and it was my job to perform a post mortem to ascertain cause of death. With only a basic knowledge of sea turtle anatomy I spent the morning preparing myself with many articles and guides to sea turtle necropsy, and by the afternoon I was knee deep (literally) in the project! Another interesting project I completed over many months, was to clean, prepare and assemble a complete set of green sea turtle bones for display in our educational centre. Each project is exciting because you have to find a way to get by with limited resources and equipment, but usually that just adds to the adventure of it.

Life on the island

So yes the island is beautiful, baby sea turtles are the cutest and life is pretty chilled. A few things you do need to know; life there is basic and you are ON AN ISLAND. There are mosquitos, A LOT of them; cover up and wear strong repellent. There is very limited wifi in certain communal areas of the island so if you feel the need to have regular and reliable contact to the outside world at your fingertips, you may want to consider getting a Malaysian SIM card when you arrive at the airport. There are no shops, no doctors, no television. But don’t panic, those are all just a 30 min boat ride away and if ever anything serious happens a boat will be made available immediately. There are of course trained personnel in first aid and there is a hospital in the town on the mainland. Often things happen that you just have to roll with! Examples: once we didn’t have a working fridge for 2 months, the toilets can back up, every month or so we will get a HUGE swarm of flying ants come flying in for an hour and drop their wings EVERYWHERE! If you can take these things as part of the adventure then you will do just fine. Remember they value you as volunteers and you wouldn’t be expected to live in terrible conditions, but don’t expect a luxury resort either (unless you want to stay at the resort itself!).

Getting there

The easiest and cheapest way to get there is to fly into the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur (KL). From there you can take a direct bus to a town called Mersing, which is where you will take the resorts own boat out to the island. Although the town of Mersing is small, many tourists travel there to catch boats to many other islands, most popular being Tioman. There is more than one bus terminal so make sure you head to TBS (Terminal Bersepadu Selatan), from there several companies run direct buses from KL to Johor (Mersing) with around 10 departures a day running from around 5am until midnight. The bus takes around 5.5 hours and costs around 41 RM (10 USD), make sure you tell the driver where you wish to get off as there are many stops in Mersing (ie hotel or jetty etc). You can book the bus ticket beforehand if you want to be super organised, but there are so many in a day as long as you aren’t too pushed for time you should be able to arrive and get one there. The resort boat runs on average twice a day, with no set schedule as it is based on the tides, therefore the best planning would be to be available from 8am onwards so you can take the earliest boat out (sometimes there is only one or the other might be full, resort guests have priority). You could take the overnight bus, arrive around 4 am and wait until the first boat….but I wouldn’t recommend it. There isn’t anywhere comfortable to wait and that time sure does run slowly (trust me I have done this many a night!). I would recommend getting there the evening before and staying in a hotel or hostel in Mersing. They are very cheap and one night in your own mosquito free room sleeping in a comfy bed will be worth it! Stock up on snacks (please consider reducing your plastic waste with this), insect repellent and REEF FRIENDLY sun screen and then head down to the jetty in the morning which is just walking distance from the town. Alcohol is very expensive to buy on the island from the resort bar so if you really want something to drink out there I recommend getting it beforehand. With that said, drink responsibly! All local Malaysian people working on the island are Muslim so be respectful with your behaviour.

You will likely have been told the exact time of the boat the day or two beforehand, but if not just head down from around 8 am onwards to find out when it is. As you get to the jetty you will see a big metal gate open, on your left there will be a wooden shack with signs for Batu Batu resort. Let them know you have arrived, drop your bag and wait for the boat. I highly recommend making friends with the boat and jetty staff as they will be your key to popping back for supplies when you need it, get them on your side and life will be easy.

Ok so you have had the good and the bad, now the important details:

Volunteer	yes
Veterinary Nurse qualification required	No. Anyone can apply. Mention any skills you have upon application to try ensure they utilise this skills
Minimum/maximum time	9 week periods (see below)
When you should visit	In the nesting season between February and November
Cost	Yes. 9000RM (approx USD 1200) for 9 weeks.
Accommodation	Included. Single bed in shared room with one other
Food	Included. 3 meals per day (see below)
Transport	Part included. You must get yourself to Mersing, the boat to and from the island is included (more details below)
Extra perks	Very good discounts on diving courses. Many included fun dives for those qualified
How to apply	Tengah Island Conservation – TIC

Cost: TIC have done a great job at keeping the fee as low as possible and I can vouch for all of the money covering the cost of your accommodation and food. Any pennies left over would go straight back into turtle conservation. There are 4 periods throughout the year in which a volunteer can join the team for 9 weeks (see the website linked above for the dates). The cost for the 9 weeks is 5000RM (approximately USD 1200/EUR 1080).

Food: 3 meals per day are provided at the main canteen cooked by Malaysian staff in the traditional style. It is not glamorous but there is always plenty of it! I survived as a vegetarian here but most dishes have meat so vegetarians may want to pick up extra tofu etc on the mainland before coming. The dishes vary a little but generally consist of boiled rice (always), fish/chicken cooked in Malaysian spiced sauces (generally not too spicy but there is always a non-spicy option), vegetables.

T-shirt/uniform: every volunteer will receive an awesome T-shirt. The rest is down to you, they are pretty relaxed about it so whatever you feel comfortable in in the heat (it gets VERY hot there) and bearing in mind you are often in and out of the water and the sand!

Transport to/from the island: the resort has a boat going to and from the mainland usually twice a day. Just get yourself to Mersing (see ‘getting there’ below) and they will arrange a place for you on their boat out to the island. Longer term volunteers may also use the boat shuttle to and from the island to visit mainland occasionally so long as they are not needed for volunteer duties. This is a pretty relaxed system, so pull your weight and they will let you pop back when you need to get supplies etc.

Other ways you can help…

• Make a donation to a worthwhile organisation to support the species
• Buy sustainable seafood and fish
• Be conscious of the gifts you buy when travelling and ensure you are aware of the materials used
• Support sea turtle eco-tourism by choosing sustainable tours that support the species and the local community
• Reduce your waste and recycle as much as possible,  do everything you can to stop using plastics and encourage others to do the same