Plight of the Sea Turtle

Plight of the Sea Turtle

        By: Raheal

Sea turtles have swum in the oceans for over millions of years, longer than when the dinosaurs lived. A long time ago, they were easy to spot in the surfaces of the ocean. But now, there are a lot of sea turtles who have been dropped down. Today, each of the 7 species of the sea turtle is either threatened or endangered. The situation is so serious that many children in the Pacific want to see a live one!

Sea turtles are very important to the Pacific people. The laws controlled a lot of sea turtles so that they could be hunted to be eaten. They were eaten by important people on special occasions. People used the sea turtle’s shell to make tools, spears, fish hooks, jewellery, and combs. These items were highly used for trading things. Sea turtles were also mentioned in Pacific legends. In the past, they were described as the gods in other legends.

There are 7 species of sea turtles: Kemp’s ridley, flatback, green, olive ridley, loggerhead, hawksbill, and leatherback. The leatherback sea turtle is the biggest of the 7 species. The adult can grow up to 2 meters and weighing 600 kgs. It is the only specie without a hard shell.

Each year, thousands of turtles die when they drown in fishing nets, getting tangled in plastic bags or choke in plastic rubbish. Turtle products are now banned and illegal to trade. Each year, thousands of sea turtles are killed for the black market.