Every Turtle Counts!
October 26, 2011
Sea turtles use their rear flippers to dig the chamber in which they place their eggs. Because Clover doesn’t understand that her rear flippers are missing, she tries to nest normally. When it comes time to drop her eggs, they end up on the surface of the sand behind and underneath her. Without assistance, Clover crushes her eggs in an attempt to camouflage her nest. When LMC biologists find Clover, they dig her egg chamber for her by sneaking up behind her as she is “digging.” So far this year, biologists have helped Clover nest six times. To see an amazing video of Clover nesting, click here.
Elsewhere, there is bad news for sea turtles – A move is underway in Hawaii to allow the killing of sea turtles as a “traditional” source of food.
With sea turtle numbers drastically reduced over what existed before human exploitation, their future existence depends on what we do right now. Every turtle counts!
There are serious problems with legalizing take (apart from the obvious)..
In Hawaii, most of the green sea turtles nest at French Frigate Shoals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, a low lying atoll whose highest point is 12 feet above sea level. Sea level rise has been identified as the greatest threat to these islands, and these nesting sites.
Additionally, hunters would not eat turtles with tumors, leading to selective pressure on healthy ones.
Our community is not thinking in these terms.
It's a bad idea all the way around, and I am shocked that it is even being entertained by WESTPAC, given what we know about SLR.