Why "Saving the Turtles" Actually Matters
- Sydney
- May 15, 2020
- 4 min read
The quote "Save the turtles" often with my generation is used to poke fun at people who use metal straws to stop their plastic straw use, but most times don't do anything else to prevent the issues plastic straws cause. What most people don't realize is that losing turtles would make a huge impact on the oceans ecosystem and everything they tie into.
Background Information
There are 7 Sea Turtle types, Hawkbill, Loggerhead, Green, Leatherback, Kemp Ridley, Olive Ridley, and Flatback. Nearly all of these seven types are endangered, certain types more than others. The Hawkbills and Kemp Ridley are critically endangered, meaning they are at the highest risk for extinction. Green Turtles are also endangered but not critically, so they are still at risk but not as much as the previous ones listed, and the Leatherback, Loggerhead, and Olive Ridley are vulnerable, meaning there is a small risk but not enough that they would go extinct soon. Each turtle type has a different diet, some eat fish and other things such as jellyfish, fish, sea grass, and sea sponges. Each type of turtle play an important role in the oceans ecosystem, maintaining grass beds and preventing overpopulation of species of fish they eat.
Causes of Endangerment
We have seen 90% decrease in the Eastern Pacific Leatherback Turtles in the last 30 years, and there are many reasons why this has happened. The Sea Turtle population has been heavily effected by climate change, pollution, habitat loss, and poaching. Turtles are killed for their eggs, meat, skin, and shells by poachers, who sell them, causing a loss of population. 4,950 sea turtles are caught yearly via nets from Indonesian long-line vessels alone. While this is illegal, that doesn't stop people from doing it. They also suffer from habitat loss, Sea Turtles depend on beaches to nest their eggs in. Coastal development and human and vehicle traffic cause the eggs to either be crushed and not hatch. Even the turtles that do hatch struggle to find their way to the ocean due to light pollution from buildings on the shore. Breeding grounds for turtles such as coral reefs are also being destroyed. Climate change affects the population because warmer earth temperatures mess with the hatching of the shells. Heat can cause a sex change in the young turtles while they are growing resulting in more females and fewer males. This is an issue due it causing an unbalanced gender ration. As the oceans warm, this also causes a loss in important grounds in which the turtles forage. Climate change also causes more severe storms which destroys the nests as well, tying into the habitat loss I spoke about previously. Turtles eat jellyfish, and easily mistake them for plastic bags in the ocean, as well as catching micro-plastics while it eats that are floating through the water. They also get stuck in things like pop rings and end up suffocating. As you can see many human caused issues have resulted in a population decrease in this species.
Ecosystem Impact
WWF states that sea turtles are a "fundamental link in marine ecosystems" because they maintain the health of coral reefs and sea grass that other sea animals rely on. Sea turtles are the relatives of 100 million year old species and help to connect us to that past and what came before them, unlike many animals. Sea turtles are one of the few animals that feed off of sea grass as well as other things and like normal grass that needs to be curt and kept in order to prevent overgrowth, which would happen without them. Grass beds are homes and breeding grounds to many small species and without the grass being maintained by the turtles they would start to lose population. Sea turtles eggs are also one of the few sources of nutrients for sand dunes, and the dunes rely on this to survive. Sea turtles are part of two ecosystems, the dune ecosystem, and the ocean ecosystem, and with ecosystems losing one part will start a domino affect on the rest of the species in both ecosystems. Humans also rely on all the ecosystems, so not only would the animals be effected, we also would. Turtles not only have significance to oceans, but they have a cultural importance with many coastal communities. Some cultures use them as a symbol for their people, others believe they are their ancestors. The symbol of different turtles are often used when cultures bury their loved ones, they believe it represents long life. There are many legends centered around sea turtles in Vietnam believing that sea turtles represent health, wisdom due to their slow speed allowing them to stop and learn, immortality, and protection. Many coastal tourist locations also rely on turtle sightings, and selling turtle themed items to provide to their tourism. Losing sea turtles would likely cause a dysfunction in ecosystems in the sea due to their importance when it comes to the health of reefs that many species rely on, would allow certain species they feed off of to overpopulate and mess with the balance of the ecosystem, as well as making an impact on tourism and different world cultures.
Conclusion
In conclusion, losing sea turtles would cause a major impact on the world. All parts of every ecosystem are important and losing one part would cause a ripple effect causing the loss of more species. Saving the turtles is not just limiting your plastic use, its about being mindful of your surroundings and how you contribute to these issues in both positive and negative ways. We can fix the climate issues of the world, and we have resources that provide us the information on how to do that. We just need to be more mindful that we are sharing this plant with other species and animals, its not just us humans, and that everyone and everything on this planet will be effected by climate change.
As always thank you so much for reading! Your support means the world!
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Here are the sources I used if you would look into any information further! If anyone has other resources that would be helpful for people wanting to look into this issue further feel free to send them my way, you can do so via comments, social media, or email.
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