"The Sea Turtle"

There are many reasons why the Sea Turtle is in jeopardy of extinction. These range from environmental to the human involvement.
Fishing with nets and long line, trawling and shrimp fishing. The sea turtles get caught up in the nets while coming to the surface to breath and so drown in the nets.

Poaching is an enemy of this sea creature. These poachers catch the turtles not only for their meat but for their shells where the shell is sold and turned into some sort of ornament. The meat is sold to the local villagers, but the most money is made with the shells. These end up as sun glasses, instruments, jewellery, souvenirs all of which we buy unknowingly.

Artificial Lighting plays another threatening part in the life of the baby Sea Turtles. As they are born their natural instinct is to move towards the bright light of the moon and sun and then into the water. But these days the sea fronts are filling up with hotels, shops, amusement arcades, and all the other tourist entertainments and all have millions of little bright lights which distract the turtle in it's first few minutes of life and the battle to get into the water.
Once these little sea creatures get away from the shore and all it's dangers of animals that belong on the land or in the air. The seagulls or the fox's that have also found that they can get a full stomach from the many sea turtles trying for the sea. There are also many creatures of the night that have found these babies are good food as many have young of their own. If they do make it to the sea the dangers are not over. There's all sorts of fish that will eat a juicy little Sea Turtle and if they do get over this threat, then they spend around the first three years of there lives hiding in the floating seaweed that can drift around the oceans. These beds of seaweed have all the food that these small turtles need.

Each female mother will lay between 50 and 200 eggs which take about 2 months to hatch and that's a lot of eggs hatching at the same time. It is said that from each nest only one turtle actually makes it to being an adult. That's like saying from 100000 eggs only 500 make it to an adult where they can live to the ripe old age of 80 years, if they are lucky. But it takes them over 20 years or more before they reach sexual maturity and start a family of their own.

Another problem they have is oil spills or pollution. When the Sea Turtle surfaces for air it can take in these oil drops which works it's way down to the stomach and lungs or it can get in their eyes and blind them. The oil it's self doesn't stick to the shell as it does to the other's of the sea. One of the big problems is the toxic waist and other pollutants that get into the sea, these kill of the sea grass which the turtles eat thus entering the stomachs and eventually killing them.
One particular species called the Green Sea Turtle has a problem in that it can get a decease called “Fabropapillomatosis”. This is a tumour that is only common to this one turtle and is found on the soft part of the skin around the eyes, neck, or on the feet. It can be as big as a grapefruit or as small as a pea, and this tumour makes it difficult for the turtle to see, move or even eat making it a long slow death.

But with all these threats and problems that the Sea Turtle must overcome it's biggest enemy is there even before it is an embryo. It is dug up by villagers, washed and cleaned and sold at the market place for food. This is done in the same way as we eat chicken eggs. The difference being, chicken eggs are brought to us as a production product from a farm and are not an endangered species as is the Sea Turtle.
Sea Turtles are found in every ocean of the world except for the polar regions, as it is to cold. That being said the nesting beaches for the Sea Turtle are mostly in the southern half of the globe, below the equator.
One more factor that is effecting the sea turtle is Global Warming. This can effect the turtle in many ways from the water being to warm, to storms that wash away the sandy beaches and the nesting areas. The warming also melts the ice at the poles therefore raising the water levels which floods the beaches leaving the nesting area flooded. The warm weather also effects the temperature of the sand, making survival of the eggs less likely and the hot sand also brings forth more females making an unequal balance in gender.

As we have become more animal loving, more animal conservation organizations have sprung up. One being the Conservation Groups for Sea Turtles. An island belonging to China in the south China sea called Hainan is the site of Sea Turtle 911 and was founded by Frederick Yeh.
Another is Sea Turtle Conservancy that is based in Florida. There are many groups or organizations that have been springing up since the late 1980's and all are in the fight to help rescue an endangered species. These groups are non-profit making groups and go to schools explaining to children about their work and hoping to educate them about Sea Turtles and the dangers they meet.
The harvesting of these eggs is illegal but it isn't stopping the poor people gathering these Sea Turtle eggs and selling them to buy food for their own families. It's a sad business and to a certain point you can understand these poor villagers. If they don't eat they die. Is there an answer? I don't know.


© Copyright J. S. White. January 2012 (Ghaelach)