I’m a veterinary medicine student with a big passion for wildlife and it’s conservation. I’m intrigued by a lot of animals and like getting experience with species that I’m not familiar with. I volunteered at the Lampedusa Turtle Rescue in September 2021 for 10 days. The experience was amazing! I enjoyed working with the turtles a lot and gained more knowledge about them. Even though the island is small, there is always something to do with the other volunteers! In the afternoon activities we often went to the beach to snorkel, drove around the island to the cliffs and watched the sunset many times. On a Sunday we travelled to the island Linosa by boat and had a nice trip. My favourite moment was the intake of a new turtle. Together with another volunteer and Daniela we examined the turtle, weighed her and took X-Rays. Unfortunately she had a hook in her oesophagus and needed to get an operation. Also a memorable moment was that we had the chance to see baby turtles hatching at the beach at night!

In conclusion: volunteering with the turtles was a great experience and together with the group of volunteers we had a lot of fun.

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