Refreshing Hope - The Sea Turtle Story

                Like a splash of cool, clear sea water in the face, Mother Nature was refreshed by a dose of deliciously good news, of late.

                The lovely, delicate harmless sea turtle is making an incredible recovery from the devastation we have forced upon them.

                It’s a pretty head-shake inducing thought that these guys wandered the earth for 110 million years – dinosaurs, ice ages, continental shifts – and did just fine for themselves through all those millennia.

                Until human beings came along.

                Then, suddenly, the turtle population was in dire and desperate straits.

                And it’s not like they had the best of odds on their side to begin  with. Scientists estimate only 1 in every 1000 sea turtles that hatch actually survive to adulthood. From the moment they emerge from their nests, buried on sandy beaches, they have troubles. They must all get into the sea as quickly as possible to survive, but to do that, they must first dodge predators of all sorts - - birds, dogs, and even crabs. Once they’ve survived all that and made it to the water’s edge, they can slip into their beautiful ocean home - - begin dodging all the predators there, including sharks, killer whales and some large fish.

                This battle has been going on for millions of years, century after tireless century. But the species survived and thrived.

                All those predators put together couldn’t hold a candle to - - us.

                First, all those little babies skittering across the beach down to the water aren’t heading the right direction by accident. Instinctively, they know to head for the brightest horizon, first. They usually hatch at night, so, in ancient times, the forest on one side of them would have been pitch dark, while the moon would have been sparkling off the surface of the sea. Pretty good system, actually. Then, along came towns, streetlights, headlights on cars. Baby turtles are actually being confused into heading away from the ocean and towards the artificial lights of civilization, which may outshine the night sky. This leads them to busy highways and directly into the reach of land-bound predators. For those who manage to head in the right direction, there were menacing fishing nets to get tangled up in, and brutal boat motors zipping around everywhere. These may have been accidental threats, but then there were those who developed a taste for turtle meat or eggs and developed very deliberate ways to capture large numbers  of these animals for food.

                Perhaps worst of all, there’s the pollution. Many turtles eat such things as jellyfish for food. There have been reports of turtles mistaking plastic bags and other garbage in the water for food and this can be deathly to them.

                And so, turtle numbers began to fall by tremendous amounts. All seven species of sea turtle are now listed as endangered.

                Did you know the turtle has a significant hand in keeping our seas alive? It’s true. One of their favorite foods is sea grass. These shaggy lawns on the bottom of the ocean are the homes to many other species of water creature like fish, shellfish and crustaceans. But to thrive there, these animals need the grass kept to a reasonable length so they can lay their eggs and find their food and so on. The turtles keep these grass patches full of life by continually grazing there. Each of the species that the turtle provides this services for, has its own role in keeping the oceans alive. If the turtles suddenly disappear, these other creatures will be severely impacted, and may even disappear too. How far will the impact reach?

                Fortunately for all of us, there are those who are not willing to see this happen. They have been working to protect these marine animals. Beaches have been declared reserves just for the turtles. Laws have been instituted regarding fishing nets and light pollution around turtle beaches. And other continue to fight the battle against the endless ocean pollution.

                So here is Mother Nature’s good news.

                It’s working!!

                This article reports that on the US Southeast Atlantic Coast, they have seen, in the last year, a huge increase in the number of nests being laid there. More than 2500 nests were counted on one Island alone. That’s the best number  in nearly 30 years!

               It may be just a beginning, but it's hope. And proof positive that we can do it.

               Want to know more about sea turtles?

• They range in size from 75 cm or 30 inches (Kemps Ridley or Olive Ridley) to over 6 feet or 1.9 meters and over 1000 pounds (Leatherback).
• Some species don't reach sexual maturity until about 50 years of age.
• They migrate sometimes thousands of miles.
• For many years, scientists didn't know what the baby turtles did after they entered the sea, until the reached adulthood. Satellite technology has recently provided the means to solving this mystery.