Other dangers
Whether they’re endangered or not is dependent on the type of species. Some species are endangered whereas some of them aren’t. We were told that numbers are much lower than what they used to be. This could be attributed to habitat loss occasioned from beaches being converted into tourist spots. “Unfortunately, safe places for turtles to breed are lessening by the day” added Jayawardene. This prevents them from returning to the beach they were born in, despite them being programmed to do so. If you’re social media savvy, it’s a given that you are likely to have stumbled upon the plethora of posts referring to marine creatures and sometimes even sea birds that succumbed to the mighty plastic travesty. Amongst them are turtles. As mentioned previously, jellyfish are a part of some species of turtles’ nutrition. “A modern threat faced by these species are the plastic bags in the water that look like jellyfish,” said Jayawardena. He further denoted that turtle deaths occasioned due to the consumption of plastic/polythene are strikingly high. Additionally, he asserted that whilst there are certain organisations that work towards the conservation of turtles, there are incidents where even this has been abused for the furtherance of ulterior motives. For instance, when turtles hatch from their nesting grounds, individuals retain the new born hatchlings, so that tourists can come and witness them. “New born turtles consist of amniotic sac at the lower part of their shells. This acts as an energy package for the newborn turtles to swim out to the sea, over the reef, and then into open waters. So the problem with retaining these turtles in tanks is that they would swim around,” he explained. Jayawardena also said that the issue with this is that the turtles usually exhaust this energy by the time they’re released, thereby granting a negative impact on its overall performance. Conservation – the silver lining As the Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance 1938 which was amended in 1972 goes, it is an offence to capture, kill, injure or possess sea turtles or their eggs. Whilst we witness many organisations set in place for the protection of these creatures, we spoke to Kosgoda Sea Turtle Conservation Project (KSTCP) Founder Dudley Perera to shed light on their services. Showing dedication towards the cause for nearly 31 years, KSTCP is a conservation project carried out privately under the guidelines of the Wildlife Department. They mitigate these incidents through the collection of turtle eggs from markets, and release of the hatchlings the moment they hatch. Perera mentioned that in relation to the law pertaining to this particular issue, the possession and selling of turtle eggs is illegal. The areas set to become breeding grounds are densely populated. This makes it challenging for conservationists to protect eggs the natural way. “For instance, it is mostly along the beach stretch starting from Bentota up until Galle that is regarded as the demarcated breeding ground for turtles. Segregation and separation might be challenging as these areas are inhabited by human beings. So instead, we extract the eggs to safer grounds and release the hatchlings as soon as they’re born,” said Perera. Perera further stressed on how, although killing of turtles in these areas is in fact rare, probing on the protection and conservation of turtle eggs remains a constant problem. Apart from this, assimilated within their ethos are awareness programmes and research projects.Gentle creatures that walk our lands and swim our seas
20 Jan 2019
Gentle creatures that walk our lands and swim our seas
20 Jan 2019
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