From Muscat, we drove down South to the Ras Al Jinz Turtle Protectorate. Ras Al Jinz boasts the greatest density of nesting Green Turtles in the world. Also the site is unique as the green turtles nest throughout the year, an uncommon practice amongst sea turtles. The Protectorate area alone estimates 30 000 nesting green turtles a year, for a threatened species, this amount of nesting literally can change the outcome of the battle against the species extinction. The Protectorate Area is much smaller than we expected, it consists of two beaches approximately 1 km and 700 meters each in length, respectively. The beaches are bordered by steep cliffs on either side and are bisected by a large protrusion of rock. This makes the protectorate astoundingly beautiful and the views from the cliffs above the beach are incredible.  Turtle nests litter the beach and are so numerous that some turtles actually lay their eggs on top of other nests.  We not only saw nesting turtles, but we were also fortunate enough to see baby hatchlings making their way to the sea. The sighting of both of these on the same beach in one evening is extremely rare and we were delighted to have witnessed such a phenomena.

Free diving along the coastline we were amazed at the bountiful marine life we could find just by poking our heads under the fist few meters of water. What a pleasure to be able to see such life so close to the shore, we can only hope it stays that way for as long as possible. We were astounded however by the level of pollution with particular reference to plastic bags, bottles, water bottles etc. Linda spent the part of one morning on the beach just trawling around armed with a plastic dustbin bag and managed to rake in a formidable amount of bottles, juice box’s, plastic utensils and such. I observed on numerous occasions locals throwing trash out of their windows onto the roadside, which is something we have see all to often in far to many countries. It so hard to think that in this day and age, with all our exposure to what it means to litter and what litter can do, people who are well to do, and are by no means poor or uneducated, still are contented to make the bit of land they are sitting on, camping on, walking past, like a giant tip. Maybe it’s a cultural thing, in some instances. We were told by a friend of ours in China, where the level litter is astounding, that people often feel that the government will take care of it for them, and they have had no experience with what it means to litter. But in such beautiful environments…really?…..does the smell not bothering everybody? The sight of it never mind the actual environmental problems that come with it? There were few instances when I entered the water where plastic was not visible, this includes plastic bags strewn across reefs and beaches. The rubbish dilemma sparked a feeling of neglect from the locals towards the environment in general, an attitude one can’t afford anymore, especially in a country that has such amazing potential for tourism.

In the past there had been some disturbing reports coming from the turtle camps, that of people trying to ride the turtles, disturbing their nesting sites, manhandling the young hatchlings and all other kinds of things we would normally cringe at. We were impressed with the structure and function of Raz Al Jinz Turtle camp, despite the fact that they were dealing with more than 100 people arriving each evening to view the turtles. When we arrived on the first night we nearly dropped our cup of tea on the floor when we heard that nearly 150 people would be doing the turtle walk at 21:00 that night. We had seen things like this before, and 150 people!! Yikes!! Fortunately it does not seem to be the case any longer.

The eco guards and the management of the facility were able to handle such a vast number of people with sensitivity towards the turtles as well as being organized, informative and incredibly proficient in what they were doing, which was a great relief. The manager Mr. Round Turner was very helpful and allowed us to accompany the Eco Guards during the night turtle watching sessions, which did mean having to get up at 12 in the evening to head out to find the turtles on the beaches, after the bulk of the tourists had crept into bed for the night, but it was worth it. It is always such a great thing to see, especially sitting in the sand late into the night watching these amazing animals crawling up along the beach towards there nesting sites, returning ultimately to the same beach where they hatch from eggs beneath the sands surface. Of concern is the data available regarding turtle density, nesting’s, tagging etc. We were amazed that turtle data was not been collected in the field, and that data collected historically was not available even though the research has been going on for 20 years.(the actual camp itself has only recently been built.