Bahari Karuna

07/04/2025

Well what a whirlwind couple of weeks!!!
ISTS 43 Ghana was a blast and we couldn’t be more proud of our home country and host nation… friends new and old, a lot of hard work behind the scenes / the future looks bright for Eric Quayson and Bahari Karuna with new collaborations and possibilities on the horizon… thanks to this opportunity and having the ISTS community on African soil for the first time ever, we had the chance to put ourselves centre stage… loud and proud - people stood up and listened… they had to 🙃
now the real hard work begins…

Special thanks to and TOTM.ONG for the huge support pre- symposium, during and after… sponsoring the fisher elders of Axim to visit Accra for the week and supplying new equipment for them to ease and combat illegal fishing issues in the region

Finally to all the organisers and facilitators of the workshops and meetings, volunteers and participants… MEDASE

Ghana we love you 🇬🇭 🖤

08/12/2024

It's that time of the year when we start assessing what impact we have had through the year and prepare to reward those who have been an integral part of our Safe Release program throughout 2024.

19/06/2024

Some disturbing breaking news. If this actually goes ahead it will fundamentally alter the entire region in which we operate and pose the single biggest threat to both terrestrial and marine wildlife in the country.

Ghana has taken a significant step towards transforming its energy sector with a landmark US$12 billion agreement.

25/04/2024

While we haven't been posting much over the last few months lots has been happening in the background and we will have breaking news for you all next week. In the meantime we would be very grateful if you could take two minutes to help one of our partner organizations, TREE Foundation India by giving them a vote through the link below. Every vote really counts so your two minutes can make a positive difference for nature and conservation: https://www.eocaconservation.org/our-projects/project-voting/water/

24/01/2024

It is that time of the year once again where we acknowledge the very significant contribution made by participating fishermen in our work to protect endangered sea turtles. Later this week we will bring you the total amount of sea turtles released through our 'Safe Release' program in 2023 so stay tuned!

Bahari Karuna meaning "Ocean Compassion" focuses on sea turtle conservation primarily in the Western Ghana but with partnerships in The Gambia and Asia. We work with communities and fishermen to create and improve conservation solutions .

02/01/2024

Now that the festive season is drawing to close fishermen are returning to work which means we are returning too so we can continue to protect the sea turtles of Ghana. This morning at Axim our first three 'clients' of the new year were safely released back to the ocean by Eric after their unplanned trip ashore in a fishing boat as by-catch. We consider the sea turtles our clients as we work for them while they work to help keep oceanic ecosystems in balance through the different ecological role each species performs. Best wishes to all our friends and followers for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2024, it's going to be turtletastic!

25/10/2023

Earlier this month we had a special release. In over a decade of direct action conservation this is only the third Hawksbill turtle we have encountered. Listed as 'Critically Endangered' on the IUCN Redlist Hawksbills are very rare. This is evidenced by our own experience as we have encountered 1000s of turtles in the course of our work but only three Hawksbills.

Country Head for Wildseas, Eric, took the opportunity to explain the various elements of our conservation work and involve some visiting marine researchers in the release of the juvenile Hawksbill.

We wish the little turtle a long and productive life back in the ocean and its natural home.

19/07/2023

Co-operation, not competition. Recently we were invited to design a logo for a new NGO based in the Niger Delta that is busy in the process of establishing itself. The NGO, Safe Earth Foundation, will be focusing on protecting biodiversity, mitigating where possible the effects of climate change especially in coastal communities, and conducting outreach and education programs to these same communities in order to improve awareness of the challenges these communities will very likely face in the near future. Safe Earth Foundation will also be considering the effects of anthropogenic activities on the environment and what can be done to address and improve the current situation.

The Management Committee of Safe Earth Foundation deliberated the choices and has recently returned its verdict on which logo they will be using (1-2-3-4 from top to bottom). Which one do you think they picked and why? We would love to get your comments!

Bahari Karuna meaning "Ocean Compassion" focuses on sea turtle conservation primarily in the Western Ghana but with partnerships in The Gambia and Asia. We work with communities and fishermen to create and improve conservation solutions .

11/07/2023

In our last post we said that we would have some interesting news coming up soon. After a little detective work we can now report back on a recent by-catch turtle that came to us and was tagged.

The tagging method used was the same we use ourselves - simple and durable Inconel flipper tags that are 100% rust proof and can remain on the flipper for 5 years or more depending on the growth stage of the individual turtle.

The tag was traced back to a conservation organization by the name of Nature Tropicale based in Benin, also along the Gulf of Guinea. The Olive Ridley turtle was originally tagged by the NGO on 31st July 2022 and came to us on 18th June 2023. The turtle was tagged at Togbin-Daho beach in the District of Abomey-Calavi, Benin.

It is very likely that the turtle was slowly migrating eastwards through Ghanaian waters on her way back to Benin for the start of the nesting season which is only a couple of months away. The nesting season starts earlier in the western countries of the Gulf of Guinea and progressively later in the more eastern countries.

As always the turtle was given a once over check for condition and data taken before being released back to the ocean. As this particular by-catch turtle ended up coming to port in Axim, the proceedings were overseen and directed by Wildseas country head, Eric, who has over a decade of direct action hands-on conservation of sea turtles and engaging with fishing communities throughout the Western Region to promote sustainability and marine conservation.

As founding NGOs within the WASTCON regional network, Wildseas and Nature Tropicale working together have been able to piece together a picture of this turtles life over the last 11 months. For conservation to be successful it needs to start at a grass roots level, and as efforts progress along the Gulf of Guinea, the importance of co-operation between NGOs and the unity of members of the WASTCON network is illustrated in the above situation.

To learn more about Nature Tropicale you can check them out at:
https://www.facebook.com/naturetropicale0

and to learn more about the WASTCON network you can check them out too at:
https://www.facebook.com/wastconafrica

28/06/2023

Earlier today one of the local fishing boats returned to port in Axim with an old lady aboard. During the course of their fishing activities this old girl had unfortunately got caught in the net as unintended by-catch. The turtle was brought ashore to be released one data and measurements were taken and she was given an overall once over.

As most of our followers know the Olive Ridley is the most common species encountered followed by the Green and Leatherback turtles and then the occasional Loggerhead just like this girl and on very rare occasion a Hawksbill.

This Loggerhead is definitely quite an old girl and hopefully she will not get entangled in any more nets and instead get to live out her remaining years in peace in her natural environment, the ocean. We wish her all the best!

Country Head for Wildseas, Eric, recently had another exciting visitor brought ashore - more details to follow on that soon as we’re just awaiting some final info from another conservation organization.