Sea Turtles

I have been fortunate enough to encounter sea turtles on two dives to date. The first of these encounters occurred on a live aboard dive charter on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, where we literally dove from dawn to dusk with the occasional night dive.

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The second day out to sea our first stop was Pixie Pinnacle. As soon as we descended we were joined by a new dive buddy, the friendly sea turtle. No doubt he was off to hitch a ride on the EAC with Crush and Squirt. :) Totally unperturbed by my presence, he allowed me to follow him and snap some photos.

The second of these encounters occurred in Fiji while diving at Rainbow Reef. I have never seen such a colorful array of fish and coral, pictures of which are to come in a future post so keep an eye out. For now I am particularly interested in the sea turtle I met at the reef. 

Both of the turtles that I met were green sea turtles. Of the seven different species of sea turtle, all are listed in the Endangered Species Program. After doing some online research I found there are an unfortunate number of threats to the sea turtle population. The Sea Turtle Conservancy provides an enlightening summary of some of these threats, which can be found here.

The alteration of beaches poses a threat to the sea turtles ability to reproduce successfully. These alterations include artificial lighting, coastal armoring, coastal development, beach activities, and dredging. Any alteration to the natural landscape of the beach deters the turtles from coming ashore to lay their eggs, leading them to resort to less-than-optimal nesting spots.

Sea turtles meet threats both on land and at sea. They get caught in fishing nets, preventing them from coming to the surface for air and resulting in suffocation. They mistake floating debris such as plasic bags for jelly fish and consume them. Marine pollution and oil spills can result in illness and death. Just because the ocean is vast does not mean we can dump whatever we want in it. Pollutants can become more concentrated as they break down, creating areas of toxic water. None of these threats are specific to sea turtle, but apply to a variety of marine life.