Dalyan Sea Turtles
Overview
The Kaptan June Sea Turtle Conservation Foundation is run by June Haimoff. For over 25 years, she has fought for the better protection of Sea Turtles, mainly the Loggerhead Turtle, in the Dalyan River Basin on the Turkish coast. In addition to protecting the bay where the turtles lay their eggs, she educates tourists and tour operators on the steps that need to be taken to look after these beautiful animals.
It has been said that every movement towards turtle conservation in the region and across Turkey is based on the initial efforts of ‘Kaptan June’. This remarkable woman, now over 100 years of age, was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s 2011 New Year Honours List.
Brief and objectives
This was not your typical brief, but then Kaptan June is not your typical client! This work came about after one of our team – a keen diver and marine conservationist – was on holiday in Turkey. Guy had read about the work being done to protect the threatened turtle population and wanted to meet the person responsible.
Having struggled to find the hut where she was based, Guy spent time in her company, heard her remarkable story… and came away with the belief that news of her work needed to be heard by as many people as possible. The foundation’s website – in particular the mobile version – was hard to navigate and almost as hard to find online.
Strategy
We offered to redesign the site and focused on the following:
- Making it mobile-friendly
- Tidying up the layout – making clean and simple
- Creating a home for newsletters
We have gone on to host the site long-term and continue to keep in touch with Kaptan June.