Ocean Conservancy has launched the SEE Turtles project, allowing tourists to observe sea turtles in their natural habitat and encourage the protection of the endangered animals. The project aims to connect travelers to sites where poaching and fishing threaten turtles and help to create alternatives for local residents.
On www.seeturtles.org, potential tourists can locate opportunities to [...]

Ocean Conservancy has launched the SEE Turtles project, allowing tourists to observe sea turtles in their natural habitat and encourage the protection of the endangered animals. The project aims to connect travelers to sites where poaching and fishing threaten turtles and help to create alternatives for local residents.

On www.seeturtles.org, potential tourists can locate opportunities to take part in research and conservation efforts in Costa Rica, Baja California, and Trindad. The SEE Turtles project is working in conjunction with tour operators in each site who actively support conservation efforts, provide high quality service, and follow best practice guidelines for turtle watching.

Sea turtles are among the most charismatic and endangered creatures on the ocean. A sea turtle’s senses are very sharp. However, all species of sea turtles are threatened or endangered.

Sea turtles used to be hunted on a large scale in the whaling days for their meat, fat and shells. Coastal peoples have also been known to gather turtle eggs for consumption. One of their most significant threats now comes from bycatch due to various fishing methods, long-line fishing has been blamed as one of the causes of accidental sea turtle deaths, and the black market demand for tortoiseshell for both decoration and supposed health benefits.

Nets used in shrimp trawling and fishing have been known to cause the accidental deaths of sea turtles. The turtles, as air-breathing reptiles, must surface to breathe. Caught in a fisherman’s net, they are unable to go to the surface to breathe and suffocate to death in the net. In early 2007, almost a thousand sea turtles were killed inadvertently in the Bay of Bengal over the course of a few months as a result of becoming trapped in fishing nets.

Beach development is another area which poses threats to sea turtles. Since sea turtles return to the same beach locations to nest, if these areas are developed they may be left with nowhere to nest, or their nesting locations may be threatened by human activity. Therefore, there has been a movement to protect these areas, in some cases by special police. In some areas, such as the east coast of Florida, after the adult turtles lay their eggs, they are dug up and relocated to special fenced nurseries where they can be protected from beach traffic. This is not the best thing to do, as many turtle species return to the beach on which they were born. Hatchlings find their way to the ocean by crawling towards the brightest horizon, but often become disoriented on developed stretches of coastline. Special lighting ordinances may also be enforced to prevent lights from shining on the beach and confusing young hatchlings, causing them to crawl towards the light and away from the water, usually crossing a road. A turtle-safe lighting system uses red light in place of white light as sea turtles can’t see red light.

Another major threat to sea turtles is the black market trade in eggs and meat. This is a pervasive problem throughout the world, but especially a concern in the Philippines, India, Indonesia and throughout the coastal nations of Latin America. Estimates are as high as 35,000 turtles killed a year in Mexico and the same number in Nicaragua.

Moreover, global warming can also cause a threat to sea turtles. Since temperatures in the sands define the sex of the turtle while developing in the egg, many feared rising temperatures would only produce one sex, but more research remains to be done in order to understand how climate change might affect sea turtle gender distribution.

The plight of sea turtles has been recognized around the world, and many organizations and governments are working to preserve these ancient creatures. Volunteer opportunities to save the turtles are available in North America and around the world.