World Sea Turtle Day

 World Sea Turtle Day is celebrated on June 16th.

 

 

This is  to highlight the importance of sea turtles in the marine biodiversity and saving the turtles from near extinction.The International Union for the conservation of nature (IUCN) has considered it as endangered species. This day coincide with the birth day of   Dr.Archie Carr, the father of sea turtle biology. 

 

Turtles have been in existence on planet earth for more than 100 million years . One of the few species that have  survived since  pre historic time period,  even before the time of Dinosaurs. Turtles have a life span of above 100 years and meant to live longer than humans.

 

Only 1 out of 1000 sea turtle eggs survive to adulthood giving a very low chance of survival. Out of the seven species of sea turtles,  six of  are considered under extinction. The seven species of sea turtle are Loggerhead, Green, Leatherback, Hawksbill, Olive Ridley, Kemp’s Ridley, and Flatback. Out of these seven, two species, Hawksbill and Kemps Ridley are considered critically endangered. Five species of tutles are observed in the coastal belt of Sri Lanka and use the beach  for nesting .These  include: Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas),Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea).

 

Plastic pollution in the ocean is the biggest threat for the survival of the turtles as they mistake plastic in the ocean for jelly fish.

 

When sea turtles are almost near extinct,  the destruction brough by the chemical fire  in X-Press Pearl cargo ship off Colombo port is a double blow to the population of  turtles that choose Sri Lankan coast  as their habitat.  With  todays count,  over 60 turtle carcasses have washed ashore and many more could have died, disappearing to the bottom of the sea.  Although it is apparent the deaths of sea turtles are related to the X-Press Pearl ship catastrophe, the  cause of death for the turtles are yet to be confirmed by the relevant authorities.

 

We can only hope for the best that the remaining few  turtles will be able to generate offsprings to carry forward there generation to the next millennium.