Blog post by Tina Winterlik © 2012
zipolita@gmail.com
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So I screwed up tonight. I admit it.
I feel really bad. :(
Update: I found out she had laid her eggs, before, they came and got us. I feel so much better now!!
Someone came and told us there was a
huge turtle on the beach..and we rushed out to see it.
I didn't really know what was going on, at first I thought it was a dead turtle washed up on shore as we had seen that a few days before. But this was alive and I took photos, and I knew I probably should but others came and they took photos too!
Apparently the flash is really bad. :( I shouldn't have done it. Should have known better.
This photo shows you the size.
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| Photos by Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita © 2012 |
At first there was just a few of us but then alot of people came. The turtle was looking for a place to lay the eggs but everyone was too close and she got confused and well
it was just sad.
Finally they coaxed her back into the sea with some lanterns.
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| Photos by Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita © 2012 |
It's probably for the best, hopefully she'll lay her eggs on a quieter more isolated beach. She was huge though. I've never seen anything like it.
But now I know and I researched it and I'm telling you that this turtle - The Leatherback is CRITICALLY ENDANGERED.
Critically Endangered species are those that are either facing an extremely high risk of
extinction, or have numbers which decreased, or will decrease, by 80% within three generations
It means that within 3 generations it will decrease in number by 80%. And do you know why? Because it likes to eat jellyfish.
And plastic bags look like jellyfish. http://www.conserveturtles.org/seaturtleinformation.php?page=leatherback
Here's some info from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leatherback_sea_turtle
The
leatherback turtle (
Dermochelys coriacea), sometimes called the
lute turtle, is the largest of all living
turtles (as well as the largest extant
sea turtle) and is the fourth largest modern
reptile behind three
crocodilians.
[4][5] It is the only living
species in the genus
Dermochelys. It can easily be differentiated from other modern sea turtles by its lack of a
bony shell. Instead, its
carapace is covered by skin and oily flesh.
Dermochelys coriacea is the
only extant member of the
family Dermochelyidae.
Pacific subpopulation
Pacific leatherbacks divide into two populations. One population nests on beaches in
Papua, Indonesia and the Solomon Islands and forage across the Pacific in the
Northern Hemisphere, along the coasts of
California,
Oregon, and
Washington in North America. The eastern Pacific population forages in the
Southern Hemisphere, in waters along the western coast of South America,
nesting in Mexico, El Salvador and Costa Rica.
[26][34]
The continental United States offers two major leatherback feeding
areas. One well-studied area is just off the northwestern coast near the
mouth of the
Columbia River. The other American area is located in the state of California.
[34] Further north, off the Pacific coast of Canada, leatherbacks visit the beaches of
British Columbia.
[30]
Feeding
Adult
D. coriacea turtles subsist almost entirely on jellyfish.
[6] Due to their obligate feeding nature, leatherback turtles help
control jellyfish populations.
[4] Leatherbacks also feed on other soft-bodied organisms, such as
tunicates and
cephalopods.
[39]
Pacific leatherbacks migrate about 6,000 miles (9,700 km) across the Pacific from their nesting sites in Indonesia to eat
California
jellyfish. One cause for their endangered state is plastic bags
floating in the ocean.
Pacific leatherback sea turtles mistake these
plastic bags for jellyfish; an estimated one third of adult leatherbacks
have ingested plastic.[40]
Plastic enters the oceans along the west coast of urban areas, where
leatherbacks forage; with Californians using upwards of 19 billion
plastic bags every year.[41]
Several species of sea turtles commonly ingest plastic marine debris,
and even small quantities of debris can kill sea turtles by obstructing
their digestive tracts.
[42
What to do if you see a
LEATHERBACK TURTLE
http://www.conserveturtles.org/seaturtleinformation.php?page=leatherback
* Stay clear and out of sight of the turtle until she begins laying eggs, otherwise you may scare her back into the sea.
* For your safety, stay away from the turtle's head. Sea turtles, especially loggerheads, have very strong jaws and can harm you if provoked.
* Do not handle the eggs or put any foreign objects into the nest. You can introduce bacteria or injure the eggs.
* Do not handle or ride the sea turtle. In addition to being illegal, you may injure the turtle or cause her to leave without finishing nesting.
* Do not disturb tracks left by turtles. Researchers sometimes use the tracks to identify the type of turtles that nested and to find and mark the nests.
* Do enjoy the experience, and remember it for the rest of your life.
Qué hacer si ves una tortuga laúd
*
Permanecer claro y fuera de la vista de la tortuga hasta que ella
comienza a poner huevos, de lo contrario usted puede asustar su espalda
en el mar.
Para la su seguridad, Manténgase alejado de la cabeza de la tortuga. Las tortugas marinas, especialmente enfrentados, tienen mandíbulas muy fuertes y pueden dañar si provocó.
•No manipule los huevos ni coloque objetos extraños en el nido. Puede introducir bacterias o lesionar a los huevos.
•No manipule o montar la tortuga. Además de ser ilegal, puede lesionar la tortuga o causar que dejara sin acabado de anidamiento.
•No no molestar pistas dejadas por las tortugas. Los investigadores utilizan a veces las pistas para identificar el tipo de tortugas que anidan y a buscar y marcar los nidos.
•No disfrutar de la experiencia y recuerdo para el resto de su vida.
More info from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leatherback_sea_turtle
Global initiatives
D. coriacea is listed on
Appendix I of
CITES, which makes export/import of this species (including parts) illegal.
Conserving Pacific and Eastern Atlantic populations was included
among the top ten issues in turtle conservation in the first State of
the World's Sea Turtles report published in 2006. The report noted
significant declines in the Mexican, Costa Rican and Malaysian
populations. The eastern Atlantic nesting population was threatened by
increased fishing pressures from eastern South American countries.
[70]
The Leatherback Trust was founded specifically to conserve sea
turtles, specifically its namesake. The foundation established a
sanctuary in Costa Rica, the Parque Marino Las Baulas.
[71]
National and local initiatives
The leatherback sea turtle is subject to differing conservation laws in various countries.
The United States listed it as an
endangered species on 2 June 1970. The passing of the
Endangered Species Act three years later ratified its status.
[72]
In 2012 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration designated
41,914 square miles of Pacific Ocean along California, Oregon and
Washington as "critical habitat."
[73] In Canada, the
Species At Risk Act made it illegal to exploit the species in Canadian waters. The
Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada classified it as endangered.
[30] Ireland and Wales initiated a joint leatherback conservation effort between
Swansea University and
University College Cork. Funded by the
European Regional Development Fund, the Irish Sea Leatherback Turtle Project focuses on research such as
tagging and satellite tracking of individuals.
[74]
___________________________________________________________________________________________
So please respect the turtles, don't get to close and don't take photos. I'm going to try and print up these notes and post them around so that people are more aware.
We will be visiting the Mazunte Turtle Museo soon so we can see the changes they've made since 3 years ago, as we never saw it under construction.
I want to ask them why they don't put up pamphlets and give out more info so that the people of Zipolite have a better understanding of the turtles.
