My final three weeks of my volunteer trip were spent on Nusa Penida, a smaller Indonesian island off of mainland Bali. Nusa Penida is less developed with far fewer tourists than Bali. My volunteer work on Nusa Penida consisted of turtle conservation and environmental activism. Sea turtles are an endangered species. Sea turtles, along with marine life in general has been greatly affected by global climate change. With the rising temperatures and increase of plastic in the ocean, the ecosystems of these marine animals has been altered significantly. Furthermore, locals in Bali used to eat turtles so the sea turtle population around the island is much smaller compared to the rest of the world.

To combat these growing issues, Green Lion Bali, the organization I was working with, opened a turtle sanctuary where turtles can have a safe place to grow to be big enough to have a high chance of surviving in the ocean upon release. Now that the sanctuary has been long established on the island, local fishermen will bring turtle eggs to Green Lion where they will safely hatch on site. Each day I, along with the other volunteers, would clean the tanks, feed the turtles, and clean the turtles to ensure that continued their growth in a happy and healthy way. We would record their movements and take measurements to track their progress as well.

When I was not working with the turtles, I cleaned the beaches, made signs encouraging environmentally conscious behaviors, and worked to improve the waste management system on the island. On my final day on the island, I got lucky enough to be a part of a turtle release. A Balinese ceremony was performed to bless the turtle and wish it a safe journey in the water. This was by far the highlight of my trip as it was so exciting to see the work I did each day come to fruition.