Swim With Sea Turtles
Did you know that sea turtles date back to the late Jurassic? That's right, these ancient guys even survived the dinosaur extinction and have now been around for over 150 million years, making them one of seas oldest creatures! These marvellous reptiles begin there life in a leathery ping pong ball looking egg which is nestled in a sand in a deep hole dug by mummy turtle. Awaiting 50-60 days next to approximately 50-200 brothers or sisters, the lucky 80% hatch and squirm there tiny little flippers to the sandy surface and where they brace the dash through predators and pitfalls to the make it to the big blue. Out of that 80%, about 50% make it to the ocean and now face a new array predators and pitfalls, 50% of those make it. Now rewind back to the ping pong balls in the sand - only 10% of those little guys make it the two decades it takes to be able to return back to the beach to lay their own eggs... well that was before humans. At the hands of humans ( Plastic, pollution and poaching, just to name a few ways humans intervene) have drastically reduced the survival rate of sea turtles to a devasting 1% or less.
Lets do those numbers, say there were 1000 little ping pong eggs.
800 hatch.
400 make it to the big blue.
200 make it to adults.
20 survive to breeding age ( That's without human interference.)
2 make it with human interference.
Yes, just two. To still have turtles in the wild is nothing short than a miracle and to be able to snorkel and swim with alongside them in their natural habitat is miraculous, but to protect our ancient friends; we must do so responsibly. Sadly all seven species of sea turtles are now classed as threatened or endangered at the hands of humans, so to protect the survival of these beautiful sea creatures here are some ways you can help our turtle friends:
🐢 Raise awareness - education is power! Share this experience by sharing on your social media or share your own research/experience to educate and raise awareness; this will influence people to make kinder choices that fosters a safer future for our turtle friends.
🐢 Enjoy swimming or snorkelling with these marvellous creatures but always remain at a distance from them and do not hinder their swimming.
🐢Never feed or attempt to feed sea turtles- its harmful to them (and illegal!)
🐢Participate in coastal clean-ups to keep our beaches and oceans clean!
🐢 Ditch single-use plastic; millions of plastic bags and plastic straws are being used by people every day, and it's ending up in waterways killing marine life. So ditch single-use plastic, switch to an eco straw, get yourself a reusable water bottle and save the turtles!
🐢 Support sea turtle conservation by getting involved!
Share your experience swimming alongside a beautiful sea turtle, and help spread awareness on how we can respect and nurture this ancient species that has survived the tests of time. They survived the dinosaurs- let's help them survive humans too.
