George Hughes

This post is part of our Living Legends series that spotlights key people in sea turtle conservation.

George Hughes with a loggerhead turtle in Tongaland (Maputaland), KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, 1965. Photo courtesy of George Hughes.

Biography

An icon in African sea turtle conservation for decades, George was born in Scotland and immigrated to South Africa with his parents in 1947. He has been an avid angler and all-around outdoorsman since his early years, and he has worked as a lumberjack, wandered the world, and even hitchhiked from Norway to South Africa before launching his wildlife career in the early 1960s as a game ranger in the Drakensberg. He graduated with honors in zoology in 1968, then spent six years at the Oceanographic Research Institute in Durban, where he conducted studies on the Tongaland (also known as Maputaland) coast. That work earned him a PhD from the University of Natal with a thesis titled “The Sea Turtles of South East Africa.” He served in many roles at the Natal Parks Board throughout his professional career, ultimately retiring as chief executive officer. George authored hundreds of publications, including the books titled Between the Tides: In Search of Sea Turtles and Drakensberg Ranger. He also served with dozens of national and international bodies, including the IUCN-MTSG, for which he conducted important research on sea turtle farming operations in the Cayman Islands (1974) and in Réunion and Tromelin (1985). He was an invited speaker at the First World Conference on Sea Turtle Conservation (Washington, DC, 1979) and at the West Atlantic Turtle Symposium (San Jose, Costa Rica, 1981), among dozens of international forums. George has received Lifetime Achievement recognition from the ISTS, WESSA 90, and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, to name a few of his many honors, as well as “Living Legend” status bestowed by the South African Association for Marine Biological Research and membership in the Order of the Bataleur bestowed by the South African Hunters and Game Conservation Society for his lifetime commitment to the sustainable use of wildlife.

What was your first sea turtle moment?

I secured a student vacation job patrolling beaches on the northern coast of Zululand, a region then called Tongaland (now Maputaland). Having no idea what a sea turtle was, my first encounter with a nesting loggerhead turned out to be an epiphany that completely changed my life’s direction. Then, an encounter with my first leatherback clinched the deal.

What is your proudest accomplishment?

Seeing the beaches of Zululand, South Africa, declared as Marine Reserves by the South African government in the late 1970s was a proud accomplishment that continued because it was be included in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO’s) recognition of the Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park as a Natural World Heritage Site in 1999, the highest level of global protection that can be attained.

What is different now from when you started?

The Natal Parks Board became aware that sea turtles nested on the northern beaches near the Mozambique border only in 1963, and an exploratory program was launched to assess the situation. Although it was a protected species at the time, there was no on-the-ground protection for the rookery. Now, more than 60 years later, the area has full protection in two marine reserves and the World Heritage Site. 

The loggerhead nesting population has increased five-fold, and leatherbacks are holding their own at about 100 females per year (up from a low of only 8 females per year). Since the 1990s, satellite tagging of both species has revealed information about inter-nesting movements showing that many leatherbacks spend their foraging years in the Atlantic Ocean. Since 2014, even an occasional green turtle has been found nesting in the protected area.

What are you most hopeful (and worried) about?

The sea turtle conservation program in South Africa is widely known and appreciated, and that attitude is largely thanks to expanded tourism in the area. The local communities, members of which were at various times employed in the beach patrolling teams, have been trained to operate walking tours for tourists. As a result, nesting females are rarely interfered with today. 

It would not be too immodest to state that my doctoral research also inspired the French government in Reunion to take a greater interest in the turtle islands around Madagascar. In due course, the French established a turtle farm, which morphed into Kelonia, an outstanding turtle center with dynamic and talented personnel. Kelonia next coupled with colleagues from the French research institute IFREMER to become a powerhouse of turtle research in the southwestern Indian Ocean. Many important turtle islands are now protected nature reserves, and there is a constant production of admirable research papers. 

My greatest joy is that Dr. Ronel Nel took over responsibility for the Turtle Program after I retired and expanded the research program in Maputaland in directions that I had never considered. I live in awe of her and her team, and I am immensely grateful to them. The one thing that I am worried about is the declining budgets being awarded to the conservation authorities, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. Happily, however, staff members remain highly committed and enthusiastic, and a local nongovernmental organization, WildTrust, is extremely supportive and has helped maintain the program at an effective level.

What is your advice to people new to this field?

Working with sea turtles is both a privilege and a joy. We have many opportunities to engage with research and to protect the animals whose chances of survival into the future have greatly improved since the early efforts of Archie Carr and the IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group. Although the effects of climate change remain unknown, sea turtles will have to contend with this global phenomenon for their continued survival and thus will require dedicated attention from committed sea turtle professionals.