Love Sea Turtles? Here’s What You Can Do To Save Them!

Like it or not, human activities have been a nightmare for hundreds of species—one of them being sea turtles. While turtles have been around for almost 110 million years, over the past few decades our activities have driven 6 out of 7 sea turtle species to the point of extinction. And although the 7^th specie isn’t classified as endangered yet, it’s only a matter of time before that happens—it’s already being categorized as threatened.

The World Wildlife Fund and the Sea Turtle Conservancy reports that the threat to sea turtles is mainly caused by poaching, overharvesting, ocean pollution, global warming and human interventions that have encroached on their habitats. While it may seem overwhelming to address all the individual issues that seem to have aggravated such a large problem, there are initiatives that can be taken to manage it. After all, our turtle friends also deserve to live a happy, healthy and safe life.

Sourcing Seafood Responsibly

Reckless fishing is a major concern and poor sea turtles get caught in the crossfire between targeted fish and irresponsible fishermen. If you really want to help battle this issue, it’s important that you educate yourself on where your fish is coming from and how it’s being caught. This is a start and if you’re able to ensure responsible sourcing of your seafood, the steps that follow can be easier to achieve.    

Use the Seafood Watch Website of the Monterey Bay Aquarium to learn about the various seafood types and if they’re sourced responsibly or not. Other organizations like Too Rare to Wear also contain information pertaining to products that are made from turtle shells.

Getting Rid of Pollution

A responsible citizen takes it upon themselves to do what they can to make the environment safer for cohabitation. We suggest you volunteer in ocean clean-ups and similar projects to play your part in reducing water pollution. Even a single piece of trash in the ocean could put an innocent turtle in danger.  

Take inspiration from the 2-year beach clean-up in Miami where approximately 11 million pounds of trash was removed. The outcome? Hatchlings of the Olive Ridley Turtle Species were found making their way to the ocean from their nests—something that hadn’t occurred in decades!   

Keeping the Beach Dark at Nighttime

An interesting fact about sea turtles is that they use the moonlight as a guide to find their way into the ocean. Any artificial lighting can disorient them, leading them into inlands where they might die of dehydration or fall prey to a larger animal.

All that said it’s our responsibility to provide these natural environmental factors to our little buddies. This means we must avoid using artificial lights on the beach at night. If you really need to use the light, use a shade with it to avoid illuminating the ocean unnecessarily. A word of caution; if you find a lost sea turtle, don’t move it on your own. Get in touch with a local authority or a conservancy organization and let them do it.

At Ocean Vibe, we work diligently to help the marine life live in a risk-free environment. Buy our ocean-themed products and show your support us in this mission. For further queries or information, contact us today.