Posted on: 2018-03-23 10:30:04
🐢
Recent turtle news you may have missed.
Along with the beginning of sea turtle nesting season in the US comes reminders to keep the beaches safe for the turtles. And the story one young man whose Eagle Scout project will hopefully keep the reminders front and center all season long.
We also found rescues and releases. And a lot of people around the world all trying to protect their turtle populations.
There’s also a bit of good news for a few turtle species. And for a certain turtle museum.
Plus, sadly, the continued fight against plastic pollution, abandoned fishing gear, and dangerous traps.
🐢
Recent Box Turtle News
We didn’t find any new box turtle stories this week. So enjoy this short clip of a beautiful boxie from the Box Turtle Sanctuary of Central Virginia. Then go like this awesome little organization’s Facebook page.
Recent U. S. Turtle News
Another reminder about sea turtle nesting season. And single-use plastics … especially straws. Also a lifelong friendship with a tortoise, a tiny green sea turtle heads home, and more.
Now’s the time to get ready for turtle nesting season: Turtle Time, Inc. Wants to remind For Myers Beach residents about lights on their homes: Please either turn them off or use turtle-friendly Amber LEDs.
This Eagle Scout project will help protect the sea turtles: With the help of 2 Boy Scout troops he got 1200 wooden stakes painted with messages to remind people to help keep the turtles safe. The stakes will mark nests, so the painted messages will be constant reminders all season.
Pet turtles are a lifetime commitment … and then some: But this woman and her family are happy to make sure George is always safe. Her father gave her the gopher tortoise for her 10th birthday. Now, 56 years later, they’re still best friends. And her daughter can’t imagine life without him. So sweet 💚
Meet the Rio Grande cooter: Closely related to, but not quite the same as the River cooters, this turtle lives in (no surprise) the Rio Grande river. It looks similar to its cousins, but we know much less about it.
Straws becoming a powerful symbol: Each one is tiny, but all the straws we throw away each day add up fast. One man has been collecting & photographing the straws he collects during walks on the beach … more than 20,000 in the past year alone.
Tiny Feta heads home: She weighs less than 2 pounds & is missing part of her tail. (And yes, she’s named for a cheese!) But none of that slows her down! After just a few weeks of rehab she was happy to be back in the wild. Includes video. (Florida)
No more commercial turtle trapping in Texas? Maybe. Texas law already bans collecting freshwater turtles on public lands/water. But a proposed rule would ban commercial trapping everywhere in the state. This needs to pass.
Recent International Turtle News
This week we have several stories about the different ways people are protecting “their” turtles. And some cautiously good news for some threatened turtle species. Also some thoughts on turtle hatcheries, and whether they’re helpful or harmful.
Plus several turtle releases and a successful surgery, hopefully.
And of course, more reminders of how our trash and fishing practices can hurt our marine life. Let’s hope we can change before it’s too late.
Plus more.
People dedicated to protecting turtles
Turning poachers into protectors: Making protection at least as profitable as poaching is just one of the ways Nicaragua is protecting its sea turtles. And it’s working … Some beaches see no poaching today, where they used to see total destruction of all nests.
25 years of protecting Bolivia’s river turtles: Specifically the Amazon river turtles. Their eggs show up in markets & restaurants, even though it’s illegal to collect and/or sell them. The Quelonio Project has released 70,000 babies into the Maniqui River since 1992.
Passionate turtle conservationist didn’t like the sea: But she gave marine biology a shot anyway. And that led her back to the turtles her mom says she always loved. (Malaysia)
Almost none of their nests were surviving: And that meant not enough babies were hatching to keep the population alive. But by protecting the nests with mesh, the babies have a chance to survive. And last season an estimated 1,661 tiny Fitzroy River turtles made it to the water. 💚 (Queensland, Australia)
Meet India’s turtle warriors: Fishermen in Odisha who grew up seeing millions of olive ridley turtle come ashore for the ibada every year now protect the eggs from many fewer turtles. When Odisha’s coastal regions first became a marine wildlife sanctuary they were upset at the loss of income. But now they want to help the turtles survive.
Studying turtles and conservation news
Understanding turtle nesting habits: There’s still so much we don’t know. But researchers around the world keep trying to learn more. That includes those with the Gnaraloo Turtle Conservation Program in Western Australia. The program started back in 2008, and this year the scientists added flipper tagging and even satellite tags to help them learn even more.
Are sea turtle hatcheries actually good for the turtles? Apparently it depends. When managed correctly and with the main purpose being the welfare of the turtles they can be very good for the turtles. But if they’re set up more for the tourists who come to see and/or volunteer they could be doing more damage than good. One tourism company has changed its policies on setting up travel to hatcheries because of this. Read more about how to choose an ethical hatchery here.
Live Turtle & Tortoise Museum gets a break: The National Parks Board is giving the museum’s owner more time to find a new home for the turtles. Wonderful news. 💚 (Singapore)
An unknown population of a nearly extinct turtle discovered: Well, not completely unknown. But it has been misidentified for years. The Black softshell turtle is critically endangered. The newly identified population has a good number of animals.
Good news for the Giant Asian Softshell Turtle: Since December conservationists have found 663 eggs in 20 nests along the Mekong River. And 132 babies have hatched. 💚 Sadly another 15 nests were empty (and probably not because they hatched 😥 ).
Ghana’s 1st National Sea Turtle Conference brought together a wide range of organizations to foster collaboration in efforts to protect the turtles.
A sea turtle rescue hotline: What a wonderful idea! So often people don’t know who to call when they find an injured or sick turtle. Especially “after hours.” Now that’s not a problem in Cyprus.
Are Olive Ridleys returning to Mumbai beaches? Last week a group of beach cleanup volunteers witnessed something nobody’s seen in the area in 20 years: hatchlings crawling to the sea!
Turtle releases & recoveries
It took 3 years, but Pemba is back home: She had terrible wounds from a boat propeller & too much air in her gut when she arrived at Two Oceans Aquarium. She eventually finished her rehab at uShaka Sea World in Durban. When she went back to sea earlier this month she had a satellite tag attached to her shell. So we’ll all be able to follow her journey for a few months. 💚 (South Africa)
Mumbai’s favorite turtle recovering from surgery: The 25-year-old hawksbill turtle had a fast-growing tumor removed from its forehead.
Oscar and Kiwa head back to sea: The green sea turtles spent about 18 months at Kelly Tarlton’s turtle rehabilitation center. They were released into a marine reserve. Includes video. (New Zealand)
More than 4,450 olive ridley babies: That’s how many of the sea turtles were released this turtle nesting season in the Chennai area. Includes video. (India)
79 rescued turtles go home: The animals were seized from wildlife traffickers, but they are now back in the Peruvian Amazon where they belong. Includes pictures & video.
More than 1000 hatchlings crawl to the sea: The record release saw 1,087 little Olive Ridleys made their way to the water at the Mandapam forest range. Forest rangers collected more eggs for incubation the same morning. (India)
Terry has gone home: We shared Terry the green sea turtle’s story back in October. He was rescued in August weighing just 7.7 kg. Earlier this month he weighed twice that and went off to the sea with a tracker. So we can follow his journey for a while longer. (Victoria, Australia)
Reminders of the dangers of plastic pollution, fishing nets, and traps
Yabby traps kill turtles: It’s illegal to use these traps in eastern New South Wales (Australia). But that didn’t stop someone from leaving some at Thirlmere Lakes, where they trapped & drowned 4 eastern long neck turtles. 😥
Diving with marine life? Or diving with plastic? On this diver’s recent trip it was more plastic than life. Apparently ocean currents bring islands of garbage to this location for 3 months every year. 😥 (Indonesia)
No balloon releases, please: This party store won’t sell you balloons to release. The owner says he wants to be part of the solution, not the problem. Good for him! 💚 (Queensland, Australia)
There’s HOW MUCH abandoned fishing gear in the oceans?] Well, apparently we leave about 700,000 tons of the stuff in the ocean every year!
Ray fishing net traps & kills turtle: Even when it’s not abandoned, some types of fishing gear is dangerous to turtles.