This beautiful video shows the work being done by the SOS Tartarugas organization, set up in 2008 to work on the conservation of the loggerhead turtles of Cape Verde and the education of those who live on the islands and who come to visit.

As moving as it is to watch beautiful Bella lay her eggs and leave the island safely, there are many others, like Meryal, who are not so fortunate.

Turtle SOS is stationed on Sal and it receives no government funding at all. They rely on donations from tourists and are helped by the volunteering of time by those who ant to spent their holiday doing something really special.

The organization organize different turtle-related activities depending on the season so if you are planning a trip to Cape Verde this year you might want to get in touch with them to see what they are up to while you will be on the islands and what you can do to help.

There is a website (where you can also make a donation via Paypal) and a blog or you can follow founding member Jaquie Cozens on Twitter.

If you are in Cape Verde already, you might want to go the old fashioned route and just pick up the phone: (+238) 974 5020.

There is an excellent resource available for anyone who would like to study the birds that can be found resident or on migratory passage through the Cape Verde islands. While the Checklist for the Birds of Cape Verde prepared by the African Bird Club and Bob Dowsett is offered as a free download, permission should be sought if you wish to reproduce the list or use material from it for your own financial gain.

Also although the download is free, donations are encouraged in acknowledgement of the hard work that goes into creating and maintaining the list.

There are other Birding Cape Verde resources available on the internet. For example, click on the picture of a young Brown Booby to find a species list and photographs of the many birds taken on a birding trip by Stuart Piner and Chris Bell of the Fylde Bird Club of Lancashire Abroad to Cape Verde in March 2007.

On that trip the two birders spotted all but one of their target species ( missing out only the Cape Verde Peregrine which is apparently very rare).