Our Working Wonders of the UAE series takes you to some of the country's most recognisable destinations to uncover the daily duties of the talented employees working there
Biologist Barbara Lang-Lenton has dedicated her life to rescuing injured turtles along the UAE’s shores.
She launched the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project in 2004, rejoining the team in 2021 to lead the project.
To date, the programme has rescued and released 2,109 hawksbill, green, loggerhead and olive ridley turtles, some of which were later tracked as far as India and Thailand.
Ms Lang-Lenton, 46, originally from Spain, now spearheads biodiversity initiatives across the region and spends her weekends leading rescue missions with her three children in tow.
Here, she invites The National for a day at the lagoons to meet permanent residents Humpty and Dumpty and reveals how her team helps put other injured turtles back together again.
What does your job involve?
If someone goes to the beach or out at sea and finds a stranded or injured turtle, they can contact us through 800TURTLE and then we go and collect them and bring them back to Burj Al Arab’s aquarium facilities. The resort is where the initial assessments are carried out before animals are transferred to Jumeirah Al Naseem's lagoons next door.
We have very large quarantine areas and that's where we do the clinical part of the project.
More than 60 per cent are young hawksbills that are born in this part of the Gulf and get sick in the winter months – they are quite easy to treat.
We also get a lot of cases where turtles get tangled in fishing gear or discarded waste. They may also have developed intestine impaction from eating plastics.
Less frequently we get boat strikes, where turtles are basically cracked open from big impact or are cut with a propeller.
We keep the turtles with us for as long as they need. Once they are swimming on their own and can feed by themselves, they get moved to the turtle rehabilitation lagoons in Jumeirah Al Naseem.
Once in the lagoons, the turtles continue to build up their strength and fitness until the weather conditions are favourable for release back into the ocean.
We have two permanent residents, Humpty and Dumpty, whose shells are too badly damaged to survive in the wild, but we aim to get all of our turtles back into the ocean where they belong.
What are some of the most exciting aspects?
I do ecology monitoring around Burj Al Arab and other hotels, so I get to go diving in the ocean and interact with a lot of people and kids.
I love to see people sharing my passion for the first time. Witnessing that first reaction is precious and it’s really rewarding on a personal level.
I see a bright future for more projects to come, and we just want to expand on the work that we initiated almost 20 years ago.
What are the most challenging parts?
It's getting a lot easier now that sustainability is increasingly at the forefront of everyone's minds but pollution in the ocean is very frustrating.
Tests find most turtles have plastics in their digestive system, regardless of any other injuries.
On a more personal level, I have three children and it’s a lot of work in the winter season when we go around the country and rescue a lot of turtles.
They are five, eight and 11 and have become little turtle rangers with me.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Of course, releasing the turtles is really rewarding but I do get emotional when I say goodbye to the turtles that have been with us a while.
We have tracked 77 of our turtles since we started the project and it’s amazing to see where they go in the world once they leave us.
We had an olive ridley turtle named Oli who was very sensitive to changes in the water temperature and her health was up and down throughout the time she was with us.
She was very nervous but she travelled all the way to India to some of the breeding sites before we lost signal. We assume she was going there to nest, which was a very nice thought.
We also had a huge male green turtle that travelled around nesting sites in Oman, meeting with a lot of the females for three months or so until we lost signal.
These very successful stories are great because we see these animals that were about to die travelling back to their place of birth, potentially to procreate and continue with life.
We had one turtle going all the way to Thailand, and it’s rewarding to know that the work we do has an impact on the wider turtle population.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
If you go...
Etihad Airways flies from Abu Dhabi to Kuala Lumpur, from about Dh3,600. Air Asia currently flies from Kuala Lumpur to Terengganu, with Berjaya Hotels & Resorts planning to launch direct chartered flights to Redang Island in the near future. Rooms at The Taaras Beach and Spa Resort start from 680RM (Dh597).
Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books
Omar Yabroudi's factfile
Born: October 20, 1989, Sharjah
Education: Bachelor of Science and Football, Liverpool John Moores University
2010: Accrington Stanley FC, internship
2010-2012: Crystal Palace, performance analyst with U-18 academy
2012-2015: Barnet FC, first-team performance analyst/head of recruitment
2015-2017: Nottingham Forest, head of recruitment
2018-present: Crystal Palace, player recruitment manager
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
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PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Need to know
The flights: Flydubai flies from Dubai to Kilimanjaro airport via Dar es Salaam from Dh1,619 return including taxes. The trip takes 8 hours.
The trek: Make sure that whatever tour company you select to climb Kilimanjaro, that it is a reputable one. The way to climb successfully would be with experienced guides and porters, from a company committed to quality, safety and an ethical approach to the mountain and its staff. Sonia Nazareth booked a VIP package through Safari Africa. The tour works out to $4,775 (Dh17,538) per person, based on a 4-person booking scheme, for 9 nights on the mountain (including one night before and after the trek at Arusha). The price includes all meals, a head guide, an assistant guide for every 2 trekkers, porters to carry the luggage, a cook and kitchen staff, a dining and mess tent, a sleeping tent set up for 2 persons, a chemical toilet and park entrance fees. The tiny ration of heated water provided for our bath in our makeshift private bathroom stall was the greatest luxury. A standard package, also based on a 4-person booking, works out to $3,050 (Dh11,202) per person.
When to go: You can climb Kili at any time of year, but the best months to ascend are January-February and September-October. Also good are July and August, if you’re tolerant of the colder weather that winter brings.
Do not underestimate the importance of kit. Even if you’re travelling at a relatively pleasant time, be geared up for the cold and the rain.
MATCH INFO
Watford 1 (Deulofeu 80' p)
Chelsea 2 (Abraham 5', Pulisic 55')
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
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What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
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THE 12 BREAKAWAY CLUBS
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
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The specs: 2017 Dodge Viper SRT
Price, base / as tested Dh460,000
Engine 8.4L V10
Transmission Six-speed manual
Power 645hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 813Nm @ 5,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 16.8L / 100km
The Bio
Favourite holiday destination: Either Kazakhstan or Montenegro. I’ve been involved in events in both countries and they are just stunning.
Favourite book: I am a huge of Robin Cook’s medical thrillers, which I suppose is quite apt right now. My mother introduced me to them back home in New Zealand.
Favourite film or television programme: Forrest Gump is my favourite film, that’s never been up for debate. I love watching repeats of Mash as well.
Inspiration: My late father moulded me into the man I am today. I would also say disappointment and sadness are great motivators. There are times when events have brought me to my knees but it has also made me determined not to let them get the better of me.
