Preserving Sea Turtles – The Gems of the Sea

The number of sea turtle in the wild are declining at such a rapid rate that some populations of sea turtles might never come back! There are 7 types of sea turtles in the world. They are green sea turtles, loggerhead sea turtles, hawksbill sea turtles, leatherback sea turtles, flatback sea turtles, olive ridley sea turtles and kemp’s ridley sea turtles. A typical meal for these turtles range from jellyfish, to sea sponges, to seaweed and small fish. Some of the larger turtles even eat lobsters and crabs. Of these 7 species of sea turtles,  6 of them are endangered. These sea turtles get tangled in fishing nets and they get run over by boats. Also, their eggs are taken from beaches and in certain areas they are hunted for food. Along with all of these challenges that these turtles have to face, habitat loss and food shortage is a another problem for them. These sea turtles can live anywhere from shallow bays, coral reefs and open oceans to estuaries and lagoons. Pollution is damaging many of these places and making it hard for sea turtles to live in a safe environment.  Overfishing is also a threatening problem to sea turtles because the more fish that people take from the ocean, the less fish the sea turtles will have to eat. With all of these problems the sea turtle population has decreased by almost 35% since 1995. Only humans can help to set things right again so that sea turtles can start to thrive in the world’s oceans again.

 

SEE Turtles

 

An organization called the Sea Turtles Conservation Center started a program called the Billion Baby Turtles project. Billion Baby Turtles supports sea turtle conservation organizations that work to protect sea turtle hatchlings.  The funds go towards paying local residents to patrol important turtle nesting beaches, protecting turtles that come up to nest, and ensuring that the eggs are protected. Overall this organization has protected over 500,000 baby sea turtles since this project first got started, In 2015, 150,000 endangered green sea turtle hatchlings were successfully released in Mexico, nearly 40,000 green turtle hatchlings in Cuba, and more than 20,000 critically endangered hawksbill hatchlings in Nicaragua and El Salvador. In 2015, Overall, 234,000 baby sea turtles were protected and released into the ocean in just the year of 2015! On average it costs 1 dollar to save 1 hatchling. People can donate by buying plush toys, jewelry, books, sweatshirts, water bottles and much more.  People can also (symbolically) adopt a sea turtle or sponsor the organization. With help from around the world this organization is helping to preserve one of the oldest and greatest reptiles in the ocean.

I believe that this organization is going to help boost the sea turtle population in the wild. I am so happy that an organization like this is working towards stopping the illegal stealing of sea turtle eggs and habitat destruction. I think that the practice of taking sea turtles eggs for food is wrong. With each egg taken, there is one less baby sea turtle in the wild who can help the population to start to thrive again. With each dollar that somebody donates to Billion Baby Turtles, 1 baby sea turtle is saved. I hope that people keep donating to this worthwhile cause. Without sea turtles, whole eco systems will be imbalanced in the ocean. In just 20 years the leatherback and hawksbill sea turtles are expected to go extinct! I think that Billion Baby Turtles and other organizations like it are the key to preventing sea turtles from vanishing from the ocean. With the help of the world, then maybe the population of sea turtles in the wild will increase, but I know for a fact that it can’t be done alone.

~Minoli