Volunteer

Applications are now CLOSED for 2012/2013 Turtle Tagging Program. 

The Flatback Turtle Tagging Program has been conducted since 2005/2006 to assess and monitor the status of nesting flatback turtle populations on the east coast of Barrow Island. Equivalent studies are also undertaken at a reference beach located on the mainland at Mundabullangana Station south of Port Hedland. The 2012/2013 tagging season is the third year of the construction phase of the Gorgon Gas Project on Barrow Island, operated by Chevron Australia. The program endeavours to tag and collect data on all female marine turtles using these nesting beaches. Volunteers are trained and deployed on beaches at night to assist in the collection of simple biological data. The information gathered is vital to ongoing monitoring of these populations at Barrow Island.

General Information

Volunteers will spend 17 days at either Barrow Island (teams of 12 people) or Mundabullangana (teams of 6 people). Application is open to anyone over the age of 18. Flights from Perth to site, food, accommodation and training are provided. Prior knowledge of, or experience working with marine turtles is not required but is highly regarded. A keen interest in the field of marine science and/or conservation is desirable. The Barrow Island and Mundabullangana Flatback Turtle Tagging Program presents a unique opportunity to interact with marine turtles and collect important scientific data without bearing the costs associated with other volunteer environmental programs.

Barrow Island (BWI)
Group 1	Thurs 22nd November 2012	Sat 8th December 2012
Group 2	Sat 8th December 2012	Sun 23rd December 2012
Group 3	Fri 28th December 2012	Sun 13th January 2013
Group 4	Sun 13th January 2013	Tues 29th January 2013
Mundabullangana (MDA)
Group 1	Tues 6th November 2012	Thurs 22nd November 2012
Group 2	Thurs 22nd November 2012	Sat 8th December 2012
Group 3	Sat 8th December 2012	Sun 23rd December 2012
Group 4	Fri 28th December 2012	Sun 13th January 2013

General tasks:

You will be required to:

• Conduct nightly beach patrols to identify, tag (using titanium flipper tags and PIT (microchip) tags), measure and collect other data on all turtles encountered on the nesting beach.
• Kindly and confidently handle marine turtles.
• Accurately record data.
• Attend and participate in daily safety meetings while on-site and any additional training as required by Chevron or Pendoley Environmental.

Working conditions:

• Beach patrols are predominantly conducted at night.
• Patrols are conducted in shifts of up to eight hours and can take place up to two times during a 24 hour period.
• Shift times vary, changing daily with the tides.
• Patrols involve many hours of physical exertion, including walking up to 15 km a night on soft sand, in difficult environmental conditions such as high humidity and heat.

Basic requirements

To participate in the program all volunteers (including volunteers from previous seasons) must:

• Be 18 years of age or older.
• Attend one Prospective Volunteers Information Night, to be held in Perth on the nights of:
• Session 1: Wednesday 22nd August 2012
• Session 2: Monday 27th August 2012
• Session 3: Thursday 30th August 2012
• Session 4: Tuesday 4th September 2012
• Phone interviews can be conducted for prospective volunteers that do not live in Perth.
• Have a good general level of fitness.
• Work well with a diverse group of people and maintain focus over long periods of time, often when tired, to gather accurate data.
• Supply a written and signed character reference (either upload online with your application, submit during an Information Night, email to or post to Pendoley), and the name and contact details of this reference. * Remigrant turtle taggers from previous seasons (you must have gone to site to be eligible) do not need to provide a reference.

If selected, volunteers must complete:

• Chevron medical assessment to ascertain fitness for work. Includes a drug and alcohol urine test.
• 2-day Gorgon Project Induction in Perth.
• Sign confidentiality and volunteer service agreements;
• Online quarantine training (BWI volunteers only);
• Other training as required by Chevron, which may occur on-site or in Perth and may be an additional 1-2 days.

** Please note that once selected, volunteers will need to make a definite commitment to the dates selected. The program requires a large volume of organisation and participants cannot be exchanged easily once committed to the program. You will be contacted by Monday 17th of September 2012 regarding the success of your application. Pendoley Environmental reserves the right to refuse any application submitted.

Please review the Prospective Volunteer Information document prior to registering (to download right-click on the check list link above and choose ‘save as…’). For additional information or enquires please email

 

---

Become a Volunteer

Click below to view the application form:

Application Form