Sea Turtles need YOUR HELP!


Thu, 04/21/2011 - 07:32 — ilona
   
 Loggerhead Turtle  Leatherback Turtle

 

Why Sea Turtles Need Our HELP!

Turtle hatchlings leave their sandy beach nests and head towards the ocean.  They have the uncanny ability to chart open seas and cross entire oceans.  These travels remain a mystery and it is speculated that the earth's magnetic field, using the sun as a compass, light polarization and even the smell of a river, plays a role in guiding them back to the beach where they had hatched. They navigate vast expanses of ocean taking crosswinds and currents into consideration, even acquiring directional information from ocean waves, yet this is not enough to ensure their survival. 

The species on our beaches are the Green turtle, further south: the Leatherback (Average length: 1,5-2m and weight, 300-500kg) and the Loggerhead turtles (Average length: 1m and weight: 113kg).  Heat determines the sex of the turtle eg. eggs kept at 20-24°C hatch as males, those above 29°C are female. There are 3 distinct life stages: hatchlings float on open ocean currents; between 5-10 years old they move to reefs and feed on sponges, jellyfish, bluebottles and invertebrates; between 23-35 years they become adults and return to their place of birth to mate and lay their eggs.  Females nest every third year and lay up to 5 clutches of 140 eggs per season BUT only 1 or 2 make it to adulthood. 

Between 1950 and 1992, Japan imported more than 1.3 million dead turtles.  Sea turtles are on the ICUN Red List as Critically Endangered because of human consumption - nesting females are killed for food or their tortoiseshell and their eggs harvested.  Pollution, habitat destruction, hybridization, incidental capture by fishing vessels, their late sexual maturity and low production rate, further reduce these species.

YOU CAN HELP BY:

Clear litter off all beaches to prevent ingestion of especially plastics (even balloons).

  • Not buying ANY tortoiseshell products especially when visiting tropical countries.
  • Reporting poaching incidents of vendors selling turtles.
  • Report dead turtles or live hatchlings to the Conservancy.  We will notify the authorities.