GVI, Ethical Impact: Internships in Seychelles

I took part in the 4-week internship on Curieuse Island, Seychelles and had an amazing time. The staff are very friendly and I met likeminded people from all over the world. We were focused on collecting data on turtle hatching success, giant Aldabra tortoises and measuring baby lemon sharks. The programme was based on a beautiful island that we got to know well on our daily hikes. As well as gaining knowledge in new conservation methods, it was also extremely beneficial on a personal development level. I would recommend GVI to anyone passionate about making a positive difference, pushing themselves beyond their comfort zone and learning more about themselves and the world. The only downside was that the internship was not very different from what the volunteers were doing, and I didn’t get the chance to lead a project as had been suggested. Other than that, I can’t wait to go again!

I had the best time with GVI on Curieuse Island, Seychelles over 6 weeks. It became a home away from home. I'm an postgraduate Marine Biology student who graduated during Covid-19, so was unable to experience in the field studies, surveys etc. Therefore I chose to do an internship with GVI to get the hands on experience in the field. I have a passion for turtle conservation so felt very lucky to see two turtle nests hatch. GVI Curieuse also complete other exciting surveys with Aldabra Tortoises and Juvenile Lemon Sharks.
The staff on base were very helpful with assistance during the surveys and hikes. I originally struggled with the hikes, but it became so much easier after a few weeks. The evenings on base were fun with card games, quizzes, and murder mystery games. I made very close friends whilst on base, who made my time in the Seychelles even more enjoyable. Plus I felt like I learnt a lot about myself, and the personal journey was amazing. I was pushed outside of my comfort zone, but I'm so grateful for the experience.
I'm hoping to apply the newly learnt skills to potential jobs in the future.

I’m an undergrad marine biologist and decided to come to GVI Seychelles as part of my placement year at uni, my main goal of the academic internship is to gain research for my dissertation as well as get involved with marine conservation! The staff are great at listening to your ideas about things such as your project ideas or even suggestions around base. I’ve made loads of friends since being here and really don’t want to leave! If getting to dive 5 days a week in the most amazing reefs doesn’t entice you I don’t know what will!

Tl;dr: My experience was overall balanced, 6/10. It’s a great programme on paper and many dive sites will let you experience great encounters with wildlife. The base management has also recently improved and everything is pretty well organised. However, the Seychelles base at Cape Ternay has a multitude of problems including high staff turnover, unreliable equipment (boat and compressor, diving gear is ok) and inability to manage effects of Covid-19. Also be aware that most participants are aged 18-23 and looking for a fun experience more than to create impact. If you’re looking for many serious and knowledgeable conversations about sustainability and conversation, this is not the place for you.

Long version:
I am a 34yo male from Switzerland. I was due to spend 2 months at the GVI base in Belize. However, 1 month before the start of the programme, I was advised that I had to choose another location because the Belize base hat problems getting the necessary documents to open. I chose the Cap Ternay Base on the Seychelles.

Unfortunately, I arrived shortly after a spike in Covid-19 cases on the Seychelles, which basically kept us in perpetual lockdown due to the Seychelles requirement of putting the entire group into isolation for 5 days if even just one person tests positive. Sadly, GVI proved unable to operate the base “safely” under these conditions, despite advertising that they could. This was less due to a lack of hygiene, but just the high infectiousness of Omicron which made new cases almost impossible to avoid. As a result, between Christmas 2021 and 07.02.2022 the base at Cap Ternay was in lockdown 4 times, for a total of about 22 days. This meant we were not allowed to leave base or dive (snorkelling was ok though). Under these conditions, the most reasonable course of action would have been to close the base until the Seychelles caseload or quarantine restrictions had improved. GVI however did no such thing, probably since that would have meant losing revenue.

Unfortunately, this is not where problems ended. When I arrived on base, the boat used to bring the volunteers to the dive sites was still in its annual service. After it finally was done, there were unidentifiable engine problems that staff could not solve by themselves. Additionally, the compressor used to fill the dive tanks is an old beast, which is both super prone to breakdowns. (Being petrol-fuelled, it also emits high amounts of CO2, quite shocking for an organisation dedicated to environmental conservation which has been on site for 16 years.) As a result, there were many days even outside of lockdown when we could not dive either. At least the program manager could rent boats and tanks from local dives shops sometimes so we got at least some dives in. But even these were sometimes cancelled at a moment’s notice.

A word on participants: the typical volunteer is in their early 20s and from the UK. A considerable number of people also arrives from the US or continental Europe. Based on a call with a sales agent I had hoped for more participants that were similar to my age (34), life situation (career change) and strong interest in sustainability, but that was not really the case. People were mostly looking for a fun time. Not necessarily a bad thing, but for me it killed a big reason for doing the programme in the first place. Just something to keep in mind. If you consider all these points, you will also know if chosing the (career) internship, as opposed to the volunteering, is for you. Are you a student or recent graduate? You might get some really valuable insights, especially if you are in the field of conservation. If you're already an experienced professional, you will get little value.

Finally, most people join a GVI programme to do actual volunteering work. But do not be fooled: since GVI does not provide any species identification training beforehand, you have to learn everything on base. This includes very interesting but time-consuming workshop and self-study sessions as well as “point-outs” where you go diving or snorkelling and a member of staff points outs species for you to identify. This makes sense, since animals may look very different in the wild compared to a power point slide. It’s also fun! But until you get to actually surveying fish or even corals, you have will have spent at least 4-6 weeks, even under optimal non-covid conditions. Studying invertebrates takes less time (about 2-3 weeks under optimal conditions) until you can start surveying. This means if you want to do actual volunteer work, you should plan for at least two months, otherwise you just spend your time training and on fun dives.

All that being said, when things DID work, it was an amazing experience. I loved the diving around Cap Ternay and surveying is super fun! Especially when you see what happens with the data you collect over the long term. Unfortunately, these brilliant moments are balanced by the many frustrating ones. To be fair: things improved greatly in my second month and base management knows about the issues and promises to improve them. However, I can only rate what I experienced.

Here’s my extended pro & con list

+ Knowledgeable, fun and friendly staff which is also fairly experienced when it comes to marine conservation
+ great location in between two marine parks which are great for both snorkelling and diving and have beautiful beaches as well
+ day-to-day live is generally well organised
+ Feedback is taken seriously
+ surveying is SO much fun!

- GVI staff and organisation unable to keep base running during covid, bad & short-sighted decision-making considering the circumstances. This was a really big downside during my stay, especially considering GVI’s absurdly strict no-refunds policy.
- Diving happens less frequently and is less impactful than they promise, for a multitude of reasons. After 9 weeks I had a total of 47 dives (out of a maximum of 90), of which 18 were surveys, 5 were cleaning dives (“DAD”) and 9 for survey training. Meaning a third of all dives had nothing to do with marine conservation, which I consider a bit too much.
- Base in need of significant investment: need for new, electric compressor, several parts of the base are in disrepair and lots of trash lying around on premises.
- Not very ecological operations. Air compressor is a fuel guzzler, cleaning products are not bio-degradable (bleach to clean floors is swiped directly into nature), the recycling station is the biggest mess I have ever seen, though improvements on all
- More education on sustainability and conservation could and should be done during the programme.

It’s so hard to be fair to any organisation like GVI during COVID times, but I’ll try. They have been under a lot of strain as the pandemic has shredded their industry, and communications with head office have been patchy at times, but I must give them a bit of leeway here as they are firefighting an ever-changing situation.

Curieuse was not my first choice of project this year, but in the end, it was the only option, and with time off work already agreed and non-negotiable, I had to do something! GVI are not cheap, and they were not going to make it easy to get a refund, despite verbal assurances of full flexibility when I booked back in July for another pair of programmes. So, determined to make the best of a tricky situation, I set off for the Seychelles.

I have no complaints about the setup, the work or the onsite staff at all. It’s a magical island, and the basic life was pretty much as I expected, and works well. I have not felt the lack of anything really, and easy access to neighbouring Praslin means that little luxuries are usually attainable. The attitude towards COVID has been common-sense, and has not impacted my enjoyment of the work on the island.

The weeks are well-balanced with lots of early starts and early evenings, many of which allow us to watch consistently spectacular sunrises and sunsets. There is also enough time off at weekends to explore neighbouring islands, or simply relax. Each week there is a stimulating variety of surveys to complete, many of which involve energetic hikes across the island on rough trails, affording time to spot wildlife and enjoy the views.

The animals are magnificent and it’s a real privilege to be able to work almost daily with nesting turtles and shark pups. Jazzy and her team helped me to feel fully involved with the work and are very knowledgeable about the island and its ecosystems. They have also been consistently flexible during this time, adapting their schedules and the work to changing circumstances.

Eight weeks here has been time well spent, and I’m pleased with how it’s gone, considering that it was not my ideal project. As an intern, I was also able to find my own mini-project, which became about illegal poaching, and completing this added another dimension to my time here. I would recommend the project to anyone with a genuine interest in these animals.

I completed the short-term conservation internship program on the beautiful Curieuse Island in Seychelles from September to December 2019. The experience truly exceeded my expectations. I don't even know where to begin. The staff, rangers, and volunteers on Curieuse were all wonderful and friends that I'm still in touch with 6 months after returning home and expect to be for a very long time. The accommodations may not be the most glamourous but you are steps away from the ocean and always have the sound of waves to fall asleep to (also how many people do you know can say they've lived in ruins from an old leper colony?! Pretty cool!). As an intern, I had the opportunity to conduct my own research project which was one of my highlights (you don't need to know what you want to research before you apply for the program). Also, as an intern, you become certified in Leadership and Management (ILM) and get to lead volunteers on surveys, which was a fun way to introduce new volunteers to the amazing work GVI does and what Curieuse has to offer. While I was there I got to experience the peak season for sea turtle nesting and shark pups. I never felt unsafe (even though I was standing in water with sharks and stingrays) and the staff makes sure you are well prepared before being put into any situation. Although, the days can be long and definitely physically demanding (you will get very in shape and the hikes will feel easier every time you do one) the work is rewarding and you have the weekends to relax and leave the Island or stay and explore Curieuse!

I chose to complete an internship in Seychelles with GVI because I truly loved my experience volunteering with them the first time and thought it could only get better. I was absolutely correct! I spent six weeks on Curieuse Island and loved every second. I met wonderful people from around the world with similar interests as me. I spent my time learning about the island and all of its many projects from giant tortoise survey, sicklefin lemon shark catch-and-release, to my own intern project on land crab diversity on different beaches. I loved the daily hikes around the island and snorkeling experiences. Our down time we spent getting to know each other and having game nights. I would recommend this adventure to anyone looking to find new adventures and maybe a little peace and quiet.

Signing up for the short-term internship program on Curieuse was the best decision I’ve ever made. You have a chance to explore your own interests in the field while taking part in all of the exciting projects that GVI have to offer on this beautiful island. The staff are so passionate about what they do and the base is run so smoothly it felt like home after a few short weeks. Even if you’re just considering doing this program DO IT you won’t regret it. Like many before you you’ll fall in love with this island, it’s wildlife, tranquillity and of course the ocean, which is only metres away from where you sleep. It was the most incredible and happiest time of my life. I've had experiences I never even dreamed of and animal encounters that have amazed me.