‘It’s nice to help a life to live’: meet Sri Lanka’s turtle guardians

Volunteers are helping save baby sea turtles as the endangered species’ favourite nesting spots come under pressure from development, poaching and tourists

• Photographs by Thilina Kaluthotage

It’s a sweltering night on the western coast of Sri Lanka, and on Mount Lavinia beach there’s an unusual flurry of activity. Several young people in orange hi-vis vests are squatting in a circle, digging in the sand in the semi-darkness.

The team of volunteers is patrolling a popular tourist beach on the outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital, scouting for turtle nesting sites. Finding the nests can involve a bit of detective work.

Turtle volunteers at a nesting site on Colombo’s Mount Lavinia beach. ‘Sometimes we dig holes on the beach to look for the eggs’