Girne, Cyprus - Thousands of tourists in Cyprus spend summer nights in air-conditioned hotel rooms. But a few - particularly in the northern, Turkish-Cypriot administered part of the divided Mediterranean island - choose to join conservationists on night-time, turtle-protection patrols along the beach.

During the night, loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) and green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas), both threatened species, come ashore to lay their eggs.