So much for my retirement.....

Hi I'm Marcel Mathiot and I live on a beach in the south east of Mahe Island, Seychelles. When my wife Patricia and I were building our house we were delighted to see turtles coming up the beach to nest. We would watch over them as they laid their eggs and ensure their safe return to the sea. Sometimes we even paid those that wanted to kill the turtle, not to kill it, but instead to help us by allowing it to nest and return unharmed to the sea.

In 2005, we became aware of the 'Turtle Chick' who was patroling our quiet stretch of beach. She looked rather official as she made notes on her clipboard and inspected the beachcrest. Our curiosity lead us to ask her what on earth she was doing. Shortly after this, I, an unofficial Turtle Watcher got roped into being an official Turtle Conservation Officer. Now I get to patrol the beach and inspect the beach crest, and 'Oh Happy Days', I also get to fill out the endless Data Sheets.

Marcel Mathiot, Turtle Conservation Officer, photo Pat Mathiot

This is now my 4th Turtle season with MCSS and while I have enjoyed every minute of it, my interest in Turtles and their conservation goes back many years. It has been encouraging to see people change from being 'Turtle Predators' to 'Turtle Protectors'........but we still have a long way to go.