Blog
Mangrove rehabilitation: Magangani, Watamu
Review of LOC's mangrove rehabilitation project at Magangani Sept 2019 – Sept 2020 Introduction Mangroves are essential part marine ecosystem harboring a high biodiversity Mangroves and the mangrove ecosystem provide useful resources [...]
The fishers community of Watamu and surrounds
Coastal communities of Watamu Help improve the livelihoods and sustainable resource use in Watamu and surrounds We are actively looking for other individuals and organizations with [...]
COINTRE Kathryn & Joël Experience at LOC
Joël & Kathryn Cointre's Experience at LOC Our first experience with LOC was in 2018; we spent two weeks on the premises helping wherever we were needed and [...]
Getting ready for visitors as lockdown eases
Getting ready for visitors as lockdown eases Since covid-19 struck Kenya on March 6th 2020 we closed our gates to visitors who come for tours at the project. [...]
Covid-19 Jobs for Conservation
Covid-19 Jobs for Conservation The Covid 19 Jobs for Conservation was started to create jobs for fishing communities during the Covid 19 pandemic while protecting sea turtles and our [...]
The future belongs to the passionate
The future belongs to the passionate What started off as a 3 week holiday in Watamu has turned into a magical 5 month experience with the Local Ocean [...]
Mama Mayai – 35 nests laid!
Mama Mayai - 35 nests laid over the past 17yrs Can you remember where you were 17 years ago? What the world was like in 2003? For LOC, [...]
World Sea Turtle Day 2020
World Sea Turtle Day 2020 On Tuesday 16 June 2020, we celebrated #WorldSeaTurtleDay It's a day in the global calendar dedicated to raising awareness about the sea [...]
COVID19 relief – jobs for conservation
COVID19 relief for those in need, whilst protecting the environment The situation In the holiday paradise of Watamu, residents are heavily reliant on tourism. For most villagers, employment in hotels, boda-boda transport, [...]
First turtle nest in Watamu for 2020 – an Olive Ridley!
Kicking off the 2020 nesting season in Watamu with an Olive Ridley turtle This is our our 41st nest laid by an Olive Ridley in Watamu! We get really [...]
The state of turtle nesting beaches of Kenya
The state of turtle nesting beaches of Kenya The Swahili coast of East Africa is famous for its pristine beaches, warm, turquoise waters and exceptional marine life. Crystal-clear, the Indian Ocean, [...]
Reflecting back on 2019
Now You Sea a journey shared with others Microsoft A major win in our digitization plan, has been the successful collaboration with Microsoft through the Microsoft4Afrika initiative. In addition to supporting us with discounted [...]
Now You Sea – Protecting Sea Turtle Mothers & Their Babies
Now You Sea Protecting Sea Turtle Mothers & Their Babies While the rest of Watamu sleeps, sea turtle nesting mothers choose the night’s high tide to [...]
Now You Sea – Fishermen’s Perspectives Through the Generations
Now You Sea Fishermen’s Perspectives Through the Generations Mzee Omari Said Ndegwa was born in Mida village. He is about 70 years old and has lived [...]
Now You Sea – Seeking Answers from Data with Ochieng’
Now You Sea Seeking Answers from Data with Ochieng' Sitting on Watamu beach with the waves crashing, salty wind blowing in, and sand sticking to wet [...]
Now You Sea – Educating The Next Generation Of Turtle Ambassadors With Ruth
Now You Sea Educating The Next Generation Of Turtle Ambassadors With Ruth Every Saturday morning eight children wake up to go to Local Ocean Conservation and [...]
Now You Sea – The Fight Against Poaching with Kahindi & Sammy
Now You Sea The Fight Against Poaching with Kahindi & Sammy While some of Local Ocean’s crew walk the beach in search of a nesting mother or are headed to [...]
Now You Sea – Turtle Rehab With Lewa
Now You Sea Turtle Rehab With Lewa As a visitor or Local Ocean Conservation (LOC) staff member, no one is hoping to see a sea turtle [...]
Now You Sea – Turtle Bycatch Rescues With Fikiri
Now You Sea Turtle Bycatch Rescues With Fikiri Walking around the Local Ocean Conservation (LOC) compound, it may be hard to pin down Fikiri Kiponda. As the Watamu Turtle Watch [...]
Ocean Hero Launch
Purchase Ticket Local Ocean Conservation, a pioneer in the protection of turtles with over 20-years' experience in locally-managed marine conservation, is launching a crowdfunding campaign and you're the first to hear about it! [...]
Mangrove Restoration Day – an Eco Visitor’s Experience
Mangrove Restoration Day – an Eco Visitor’s Experience Mangroves play a very important role in Watamu’s Mida Creek. The forests not only stabilise the coastline, reducing erosion from storm surges, currents, waves, and tides but [...]
Mida Creek Mangroves – an Eco Visitor’s Experience
Mida Creek Mangroves - an Eco Visitor's Experience On a warm and clear Thursday afternoon, we had the opportunity to explore Mida Creek. Our guide, Daniel, walked with us through the mangrove nursery, [...]
Kahindi Changawa | Celebrating 20yrs in Marine Conservation
Celebrating 20yrs in Marine Conservation Kahindi Changawa, one of the most experienced and knowledgeable team members of Local Ocean Conservation shares his learnings from 20yrs of marine conservation in Watamu, Kenya. This video was recorded [...]
A Dhow with a mission
Hello from Watamu! This weekend on Saturday 26th of January 2019, Watamu will receive the Flipiflopi dhow as it sails from Lamu to Zanzibar. The dhow has been made from plastic and flipflop waste and it [...]
A new benchmark for nesting turtles!
We asked team member Gladys Kimani what stood out for her in 2018. For Gladys it had to be the record breaking year! The LOC Watmu Turtle Watch programme protects sea [...]
Machines can be our friends too
Machines can be our friends too There is so much happening in the realm of technological-advancements in the world that we can easily miss the opportunities, right now, where we can participate [...]
GIS in Mapping Turtle Nesting Suitability of Beach to Inform Conservation Efforts
GIS in Mapping Turtle Nesting Suitability of Beach to Inform Conservation Efforts Listed as threatened, turtles are experiencing increased drop in their population, Habitats, foraging sites and also nesting sites. Nonprofits [...]
Video: Rescuing a Hawksbill sea turtle in Watamu
Video: Rescuing a Hawksbill sea turtle in Watamu Not all heroes wear capes. On Saturday 16 January 2016, we got a call from a local Watamu fisherman who had unintentionally caught [...]
Amos and Elvis Save Bahati
Amos and Elvis Save Bahati The youngest fishermen yet to participate in our Bycatch Release Programme rescue a very special turtle Amos (13) and his younger brother, Elvis (12), [...]
#KenyaLive
#KenyaLive Live Broadcasts from the Mara to Watamu Get ready to #VisitWatamu This week the all new #KenyaLive campaign launches with Make It Kenya, HerdTracker and Wonders of Watamu enabling everyone [...]
Challenging Times
Challenging Times The Impact of Imperial Bank Ltd's Receivership On 13th October 2015, Imperial Bank of Kenya went into statutory receivership with the Central Bank of Kenya. This [...]
Mida Creek Conservation Fishing and Awareness Group
Mida Creek Conservation Fishing and Awareness Group Protecting Mida Creek and the Arabuko Sokoke Forest This group was established in 2009 in an effort to reduce the dependence and pressure on [...]
Msitu Women’s Group
Msitu Women’s Group Protecting Arabuko Sokoke Forest In a half acre plot, thousands of different indigenous and exotic trees and plants are growing in a nursery located near [...]
Diani Turtle Watch
Diani Turtle Watch Protecting the nests of the South Coast Since 2012, a team of volunteers in Diani, on Kenya’s South Coast, have been working hard to protect nesting turtles and [...]
World Environment Day Beach Clean Up 2015
World Environment Day Beach Clean Up 2015 Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume With Care World Environment Day was established in 1972 by the United Nations General [...]
LOT Heroes – Mzee Mohammed Shariff
LOT Heroes - Mzee Mohammed Shariff A lifetime spent saving turtles Recently, our Watamu Community Liaison Officer, Athman, was in Malindi to visit an old man who has a very special [...]
Darakasi Young Fishermen
Darakasi Young Fishermen A spirited group of young fishermen with a growing interest in conservation A group of 30 spirited young fishermen in Darakasi were inspired by the efforts of Watamu [...]
Let’s Talk Turtles!
Let's Talk Turtles! Two months of nothing to do. Nothing except sit on the sofa, drink tea and be totally and utterly [...]
A Special Nest
A Special Nest An Olive Ridley Lays Her Eggs in Watamu In the early morning hours of the 16th March 2015 a female Olive Ridley turtle scrambled up Watamu [...]
Sheldon’s Story
Sheldon's Story A Second Chance... Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a disease found in sea turtles all over the world and one that we are increasingly dealing with here in our [...]
Introducing…
Introducing... Phanice Anindo - LOT's Newest Intern Describe yourself... I am a 24 year old Kenyan lady, very social and hardworking. I love making friends and I like learning new things. [...]
2015 Off To A Great Start!
2015 Off To A Great Start! 12,000 turtle releases and counting, new nests on the beach and educating the next generation. As we get into the month of [...]
Polly’s Story
Polly's Story A Fiesty Hawksbill Comes To Visit Tenacious Polly was first seen by Local Ocean Trust in October 2009. Even as a juvenile, with a carapace length of just 46.1cm, [...]
Watamu Young Fishermen
Watamu Young Fishermen Making a Change for Tomorrow Watamu Young Fishermen group is a registered self-help group with 40 members. The majority of members are between 18 and 30 years old [...]
Glen’s Recovery
Glen's Recovery A Success Story from our Turtle Rehabilitation Centre Glen is a juvenile Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata). This species is considered to be critically endangered worldwide according to the IUCN [...]
Another Great Year For Our Local Ocean Marine Scouts
Another Great Year For Our Local Ocean Marine Scouts The next generation of marine conservationists! As the year draws to an end, so too does this year’s Marine Scout Programme. To conclude [...]
Jimba Pomboo
Jimba Pomboo A Community Group with a Difference. Situated north of Watamu, Jimba Village is set a little further back from the coastline. The Jimba fishermen use the landing site in [...]
Sea Turtles and Climate Change
Sea Turtles and Climate Change Looking into the effects for hatchlings. Sea turtles rely on both marine and terrestrial habitats during their life cycles. Because of this, [...]
It’s a Green! No it’s a Hawksbill! Maybe it’s both?
It's a Green! No it's a Hawksbill! Maybe it's both? The turtle that we just can't stop talking about! We’ve had over 11,000 sea turtle releases since [...]
Sasha’s Story
Sasha's Story The happy story of young Hawksbill Sasha is a young Hawksbill turtle that came into our rehabilitation centre tangled in discarded fishing nets. This video tells her story. [...]
Barnacles
Barnacles A quick stop in our Rehabilitation Centre and then back to the ocean! This Hawksbill Turtle has spent the last 36 hours in our [...]
Feeding Time in the Rehabilitation Centre
Feeding Time in the Rehabilitation Centre Young Hawksbill Recovering from Ghost Net Injuries This young Hawksbill Turtle is the second 'ghost net' victim to be admitted to our Rescue [...]
Back to the Ocean!
Back to the Ocean! A Quick Recovery By Recent Ghost Net Victim The Hawksbill Turtle that came to us last week, recovered very quickly. The very active [...]
New Patient in our Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre
New Patient in our Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre Another Victim of Ghost Nets This Hawksbill turtle was found by one of our nest monitors, Lewa, on his early morning beach patrol. [...]
Turtle Release In Sunny Watamu
Turtle Release In Sunny Watamu 11,158 turtle releases and counting.... We love being able to share with you the special moment when we are able to release turtles back to [...]
LOT’s New Turtle Rescue and Release Car
LOT's New Turtle Rescue and Release Car First Day of Service You may remember the wonderful Eco Visitor Marika and the [...]
Education Programme 2nd Quarter Update
Education Programme 2nd Quarter Update All the info on the 2nd quater of the year. The LOT education programme is a great way for students to learn about the marine environment. University [...]
Nesting Programme 2nd Quarter Update
Nesting Programme 2nd Quarter Update All the info on the 2nd quater of the year. The weather has been very cool in Watamu and the tides just perfect for nesting turtles. It [...]
Jipe Moyo Community Conservation Group
Jipe Moyo Community Conservation Group A fantastic local group with conservation at heart! In conjunction with our 2nd quater newsletter we are pleased to provide a profile on Jipe Moyo Community Conservation [...]
A Day in the Life of an Eco Visitor
A Day in the Life of an Eco Visitor Have you ever wondered what's it's like to be an Eco Visitor? It’s 9.00am, your first day as an [...]
11,000 Turtle Releases
11,000 Turtle Releases A huge milestone for our project! On Monday 7th July we successfully completed our 11,000th turtle release through our by Bycatch release programme. Through this programme we work [...]
Fibropapillomatosis Success Story
Fibropapillomatosis Success Story Green turtle saved by local vet This stunning green turtle came into our rehabilitation centre with several small fibropapillomatosis tumours. Our local vet, [...]
The End Of The Line – 5 Years On
The End Of The Line - 5 Years On In 2009 The End Of The Line documentary was launched. They presented the hard hitting prediction that our oceans could be [...]
Daisy’s Beach Clean – The Results Are In
Daisy's Beach Clean - The Results Are In The results are in from Daisy's beach clean .... a whopping 126.5kg of rubbish collected, sorted and ready for recycling. Here's the breakdown: [...]
Daisy’s Beach Clean
Daisy's Beach Clean A big well done to our intern Daisy on organising a beach clean! Daisy, together with our Eco Visitors and members of the LOT team have [...]
Support from Eglisau Secondary School
Support from Eglisau Secondary School Thanks for the great fundraising efforts Eglisau Secondary School in Switzerland have chosen Local Ocean Trust to be one of the beneficiaries of their Easter Charity [...]
Update on Polly
Update on Polly This is Polly. She spent some time with us in our rehabilitation centre back in October 2012 with a flipper amputation and parasite infestation. Today she was caught by [...]
Flexi Biogas System
Flexi Biogas System Sustainable Fuel Source How can you cook using a giant bag and some cow dung? A few days ago we had a Flexi Biogas System installed which [...]