Posted on: 2019-03-22 10:30:58
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Recent turtle news we found interesting.
It’s another short list this week, with some happy stories, some sad stories, and some irritating stories (traffickers. Ugh!).
But we hope you have a turtle-ly awesome weekend and upcoming week!
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Recent Box Turtle News
This week’s box turtle stories are about studying wild populations without changing them too much. And a TV appearance from a not-so-wild boxie who seemed a bit bored with the whole thing.
Minimizing stress on box turtles during study: Monitoring the turtles is important for learning about them & protecting them. But too much handling is stressful & may make them less likely to react quick enough to escape actual predators. So this sanctuary came up with a simple way to quickly identify animals that have already been surveyed for the season.
Meet Malcolm the Eastern box turtle: Malcolm calls the Boonshoft Museum in Dayton, Ohio home & he made a appearance on a local morning show recently. Video.
Recent U. S. Turtle News
Just a few stories from the US this week about helping sea turtles & figuring out what’s happening with Florida’s freshwater turtles.
Help The Florida Aquarium name its newest resident sea turtle! Choose your favorite from a list of 8 names. You can vote once per day & each day one voter will win a 4-pack of tickets to the Aquarium.
The 3rd installment of Rescue to Release: This series of articles shows how the National Aquarium rehabs cold-stunned sea turtles. This installment discusses recovery and especially feeding. Includes picture & video.
Florida freshwater turtles are still dying: So far studies are suggesting a virus is to blame. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is asking for help to both identify sick turtles & prevent the spread of the illness.
Florida Atlantic University store stops selling balloons: When the store owner realized just how bad they were for wildlife he decided he didn’t want to be a part of the problem. He hopes other business owners will do the same. Includes video. (Boca Raton, FL)
Recent International Turtle News
Sea turtles traveling, recovering, nesting, and sadly dying. Plus turtle conservation, preservation, and trafficking.
Sea turtle news
Pemba’s had a busy year: Do you remember Pemba? She’s an olive ridley sea turtle who spent 3 years in rehab & couldn’t dive when she first came to Two Oceans Aquarium. She finally got her freedom last March, fitted with a tracker. Since then she’s traveled 14,381 km (8936 miles)!
Flatback sea turtle ambassadors at SEA LIFE Melbourne: 2 flatback sea turtles who can’t be released are helping spread awareness about the threats they face. This species of sea turtle only lives around Australia, Indonesia & Papua New Guinea.
Abandoned fish pot claims hawksbill turtle life: Tourists freed the turtle, but it was already dead. 🙁 Includes video. (Cayman)
An unusual house-guest: The Department of Environment’s deputy director & his family “invited” a sick green sea turtle named Ebb to stay with them for a while. They hand fed it, gave it eye drops, and encouraged it to eventually eat on its own. The Cayman Turtle Centre helped oversee its care & Ebb has now gone home. Includes pictures & video. (Cayman)
Conservation news
If you clean it they will come: “It” being the beach, and “they” are the sea turtles. It took 2 years to clean up Mumbai’s Versova Beach, clearing away more than 11 million pounds of garbage, with some piles more than 5 feet tall. But the reward, seeing baby turtles waddle to the sea, was worth it.
This turtle didn’t die in vain: It died almost 20 years ago, most likely from injuries from fishing line. But the sight of that dead turtle on a beach was the inspiration for what would become the Trust for Environment. Education, Conservation, and Community Development (TREE) Foundation. The Foundation conducts community-based sea turtle conservation and also marine conservation in general.
Temple ponds as conservation centers: Until recently few people realized the diversity of turtles in many of these ponds. At least one species thought extinct was found to have a good-sized population in one of them. Now actual conservation programs exist at some of them. (Assam, India)
Other turtle-related news
Let’s be like this young woman and her students: They didn’t like how plastic was affecting marine life around the Bahamas. So they made a plan & proposed to the minister of environment banning single-use plastic bags. He liked their presentation and took it further, suggesting a ban on all single-use plastics.
Cu Rua back home forever: The legendary Giant Yangtze turtle who died in 2016 has been preserved & is on display at a temple on the lake it once called home. Includes pictures. (Vietnam)
Turtle trafficking news
Man tries to pass off tortoises as chocolate: The 3 tortoises were in a pastry box. When a customs official got suspicious he claimed they were chocolate. (Germany)
Yet another turtle smuggler arrested: Indonesian officials found 2,227 pig-nosed turtles packed in boxes. The man could spend up to 5 years in prison.
3 caught smuggling sea turtles: They were carrying 45 sea turtles in sacks. (Odisha, India)