Background of SPOT

SPOT was founded in the late 1980s by British expatriates Ian and Celia Bell who came together with Kutlay Keço, or Jimmy as he is fondly known to the regulars at the Grapevine restaurant in Kyrenia. In 1988 a preliminary field study was carried out by Brian Groombridge and Claire Whitmore and SPOT later made further surveys of the North Cyprus coast and found numbers of nesting green and loggerhead turtles sufficient to merit further investigation. In the early 1990s SPOT contacted Glasgow University and in 1992 the first pioneering team of students were sent to make a thorough survey. On the basis of this expedition, Kutlay agreed to provide accommodation on his land at Alagadi, and this became the Alagadi Goat Shed and Sleeping House, which twenty years on are still used by the Marine Turtle Conservation Project (MTCP) as the hub of research and conservation of turtles in North Cyprus.

Marine Turtle Conservation Project The MTCP is a joint initiative of SPOT and the Marine Turtle Research Group (MTRG), University of Exeter, UK. Each year since 1992, a team of enthusiastic students from the UK, Cyprus and overseas have worked with us monitoring, conserving and researching the marine turtles of North Cyprus. Most would agree that the project has left a life-long impression on their futures. Our work is carried out at the request and in conjunction with members of the local Department of Environmental Protection. Since the early 1990’s, research conducted by the MTCP has made a great contribution to the global understanding of marine turtle biology, threats and conservation..