Turtles to keep – animals and children

V WE CARE TURTLES

Green plush baby turtle — “Pag” excluded, there are 7 kinds of sea turtles. A baby turtle is called a “hatchling” .

“Pag” excluded, there are 7 kinds of sea turtles. A baby turtle is called a “hatchling” .

“Pag” was once a real Green Plush sea turtle but his kind is now extinct, which means they had already disappeared from the world. We can only find them now as stuffed toys.

There used to be a lot of them but many people intentionally and unintentionally harmed them until no more Green Plush was left.

turtle eating plastic — “I want to clean the ocean from plastic waste so turtles and other marine animals won’t eat them”

Intentionally is when people take adult turtles and their eggs for food, or their carapace to make accessories. Unintentionally can happen in many ways like when people throw plastic that could end up in the ocean. Sea turtles mistaking them for jelly fish would eat them and can cause their death.

a ship trawler — “a ship dragging a net, catching everything else on the way like turtles, dolphins, baby whales”

Trawling is when nets are used while fishing boats or ships drag them to catch more fish. This method of fishing causes other marine animals like turtles to get caught too and being trapped underwater for a long time, they drown. If people will not care about sea turtles, which are all endangered now or almost going to be extinct, then soon, there will be no more sea turtles left in the ocean. If you see them when you go snorkeling or diving in the sea, they are so calm, peaceful, beautiful, and gentle they will never hurt you unless you try to hurt them first, they can bite.

turtle eating seagrass — “don’t bother me divers, it’s my mealtime”

feeding turtle Image by kracmar from Pixabay

Can you imagine the world without sea turtles? The marine ecosystem or life under the sea will collapse. Green sea turtles for example eat sea grass. Sea grass grow on seabeds which is where young fish live after they hatch. If there are no green sea turtles to maintain these seabeds which provide food and home to baby fish, they will starve to death. If baby fish do not grow to be adult fish, many sea creatures will become hungry too and will not be able to survive and soon, the ocean itself will die. If we don’t live near the ocean, can we still do something for the sea turtles and save our ocean?

How about the other Chelonians, must we worry about them too? Many tortoises and terrapins are also in danger of disappearing forever. Like the two pictured below. They are taken from their natural habitats to be sold as pets or to be eaten. The places where they live are being converted into farm lands or residential areas for people. Where can they go to live safely and free?