The World of Marine Turtles

Hello there!

It's The Science Journal again and we're going to give you some more information on the world of marine turtles. As you know, we had a field trip recently to the Pawikan Conservation Center (PCC) and we gave you some details about that. Now we have a very important matter to discuss. TURTLES GOING EXTINCT.  It's very sad. You guys may think you have nothing to do with it but, the cause of this predicament are HUMANS. HUMANS kill turtles for their products. HUMANS are the ones who constantly throw their trash in the wrong places not just leading to the deaths of marine life but also THEIR OWN. Because of humans these sweet, gentle, loving creations are decreasing in number.

You may not know this but sea turtles, or in Filipino pawikans are VERY important creatures. They are not useless. They play a very important part in our world. And besides sea turtles are cute! Who wouldn't want to save them?! So we begin by introducing to you the threats to these creatures.

First of all, these sea turtles are all endangered or threatened due to many reasons. First there is the threat of humans. Many illegally catch these turtles for ornaments such as their shells. Others catch them for food and eat their eggs as well. Consumption of these turtles dates back many years when the Chinese first tried them. Next is global warming. Global warming is part of the Earth's natural cycle but what humans are doing is speeding up the process!

Poor Bear!

The Greenhouse Effect

So the turtles are also affected by this. Since the temperatures of the waters in the oceans are increasing, the food of the sea turtles turn out to be less plentiful. This causes them to slow down their metabolism and also stresses them out. Over time, their numbers will get lower and lower. We don't want that now do we?

(turtle says, "*sad face* No we don't!")

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We want to conserve them right?

(Squirt says,"Yes we do!")

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So how do we conserve them and why? Well firstly, sea turtles maintain sea grass beds, especially the green turtle as you can see here:

(turtle says," Om nom nom nom.")

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They also help maintain the population of their other prey so that there is balance in the ecosystem. So how can we, students, help conserve them? Well first of all, like we did in the field trip, we released some hatchlings (we were lucky enough to be able to). This will ensure that those turtles will not get poached or harmed on the way to the vast ocean. Next and very simple, do not throw trash into bodies of water that can lead out to seas! The turtles can confuse trash like pieces of plastic for jellyfishes! After ingesting, they will eventually die of indigestion like this poor fellow here:

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So these poor turtles deserve our help for what we our constantly doing to them everyday. Like the simple car you drive or the electricity you use. All these contribute to the factors that lower the numbers of the turtles. It is predicted that we cannot restore the turtles' population back to its original, all we can do is try to help them the best we can. Right?

(turtle says,"Yes indeed!")

Till next time!

The Science Journal