海角大神

Turtles were given their chance to shine Monday, when the world celebrated World Turtle Day.

Now in its 16th year, this annual event provides a moment to ponder these oft-forgotten creatures, to raise awareness of the myriad threats to their continued survival, and to champion their conservation.

While the challenges are many and varied, with , there is also a multitude of organizations across the globe seeking to address the dangers, partnering with state, federal, and international agencies, and promoting public education.

鈥淲e felt that warm fuzzy animals always got a lot of love while turtles (and tortoises) are at the bottom of the totem pole for both attention and donations,鈥� explains Susan Tellem, founder of , in an email to 海角大神.

鈥淎fter all, they outlived the dinosaurs and are in danger of disappearing from habitat destruction, the cruel pet trade, and live food markets worldwide,鈥� adds Ms. Tellem.

Habitat destruction is 鈥渙ne of the biggest threats to wildlife generally in the United States,鈥� as Collette Adkins, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, tells the Monitor in a phone interview. With regard to turtles and terrapins, one of the most invasive aspects of this is habitat fragmentation, not least by the road system that carves up the country, resulting in significant levels of roadkill as the reptiles struggle to waddle across the asphalt.

Water pollution is also a problem, with toxins seeping into waterways from agriculture and industry.

Another threat is predation by animals thriving thanks to humans, 鈥渉uman-subsidized species,鈥� as described by Rebecca Shoer of Mass Audubon鈥檚 Sea Turtle Rescue Team, in a phone interview with the Monitor. These are often species that are natural turtle-egg hunters, such as foxes and raccoons, but as people encroach ever further into wild habitat, the predator populations explode, and the turtles suffer.

There are some challenges that beset the marine environment specifically. For example, many sea turtles meet their demise as fishery bycatch. They also struggle to lay their eggs as nesting beaches suffer degradation, either through sea-level rise or trash left by sunbathers 鈥� or, indeed, by coastal constructions such as seawalls.

And then there is marine debris, especially plastic, blown off land and into the oceans.

鈥淟eatherbacks, for example, have an especially hard time with plastic bags, mistaking them for jelly-fish,鈥� Becca Gelwicks of the Sea Turtle Conservancy tells the Monitor in a phone interview. 鈥淭hey can get caught up in the stomach, and the turtle will die.鈥�

Even plastic straws are hazardous. If such an item happens to be drifting amid a group of jelly-fish, as the leatherback is 鈥渟ucking up its prey like a vacuum cleaner,鈥� there really is no way for the turtle to differentiate, and the straw will be hoovered up along with everything else.

As Tellem, founder of World Turtle Day, highlighted, there is one other major contributor to the turtles鈥� travails: overexploitation by humans, either for the pet trade or for meat.

This is one of the areas that the Center for Biological Diversity is most actively addressing. They are working to have the most vulnerable species in the United States listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.

鈥淢any are heading toward that status,鈥� Ms. Adkins tells the Monitor, 鈥渁nd once that happens, then lots of protections kick in.鈥�

Any violation of the Act can result in a 鈥� or both. Adkins says these consequences are effective deterrents, and the listing of turtles under these provisions effectively 鈥渟huts down turtle traders.鈥�

For turtles heavily targeted by the international trade, the Center works to have them listed under the (CITES). At the other end of the scale, the Center petitions state governments and legislatures to regulate turtle harvests.

Within the last three years, they have seen success in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia, and although there are 11 states that 鈥渟till allow unlimited commercial trapping of at least one species of turtle,鈥� even the act of petitioning can often spur action that will eventually obviate the need for a species to be listed as endangered.

For example, only last week through the US Fish and Wildlife Service鈥檚 State Wildlife Grants program, aimed at protecting 鈥渋mperiled species.鈥�

Climate change is one further challenge, not least for the marine species. By way of illustration, Ms. Shoer of Mass Audubon speaks of sea turtles migrating up into the Gulf of Maine, just off the northeast coast of the United States. As they try to return south at the end of the season, they find themselves trapped by the 鈥渉ook鈥� of Cape Cod.

鈥淎s the water cools, they go into a kind of a coma,鈥� explains Shoer. 鈥淲e have 300 rescue volunteers who go out onto the beaches, at a time of year when nobody wants to be on the beach.鈥�

This behavior is unusual. The turtles rarely came this far north, Shoer giving a figure of 10 to 15 annually in the 1980s, now risen to 600.

Their habits have changed due to warmer oceans, 鈥渟ea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Maine [having] increased 鈥� over the past decade.

Warmer temperatures have another effect on turtles, shown to change the ratio of female to male hatchlings 鈥� 鈥渉ot chicks, cool dudes,鈥� as Shoer puts it.

But Mass Audubon is taking action, alongside its intrepid rescue parties braving the shores in the depth of winter. They also implement beach patrols during nesting season to protect the eggs from poachers, sometimes installing protective cages. Other organizations even go so far as to remove eggs from the beach, incubating them in a lab.

There are also steps that every one of us can take, if we would help the turtles. We can buy shrimp and fish that are TED-approved (sourced from fisheries that use Turtle Excluder Devices), take reusable bags to the grocery store, even write to our local statesmen to highlight the turtles鈥� plight.

鈥淭hese actions really can make a difference,鈥� says Ms. Gelwicks of the Sea Turtle Conservancy, 鈥渆ven if you鈥檙e living in landlocked parts of the United States or Europe.鈥�

And for those still unsure as to whether these animals deserve protection, turtle advocates suggest checking out this , shot from a GoPro attached by the World Wildlife Fund and partners.