Episode 4

If you were at all curious, our tiny turtle did indeed make it to the sea! Thanks to the kind-hearted old man, she was successful in crossing the sands, without a flock of Gulls or crabs chasing after her for an easy meal. While the last few episodes may have been cute, the importance of our oceans wildlife is not! I’ve spent the last three weeks watching documentaries about our ecosystem, reading informative articles about conservation, and looking at the different species of wildlife affected by our planets warming trends.

Turtles are like our oceans gardeners, keeping our coral reefs and ocean grasses healthy. I watched one documentary that showed how turtles have been known to tend great lawn size patches of sea grass for several months at a time, before moving on to other grassy areas. The more the turtle mowers keep the grass clipped, the faster it grows, making it easier for other sea life to populate the area. Also, I know this might sound gross, but their poo gives vital nutrients to the entire reef environment.

I found a website called SWOT, The State of the Worlds Sea Turtles, and found it to be a very educational site. All the turtle photos you see in this article, by the way, came from the above mentioned organization. This website gives information about the 7 types of sea turtles, what their status is, in terms of the level of danger to becoming extinct in the wild, and what each species is currently facing. Among all the other sites out on the web, this particular one made it very easy to navigate and read through, offering ideas for volunteering, donating or adopting, as they call it.

Surprisingly, many of the turtle species are affected, more so by pollution and global warming, than by overfishing… though fishing in certain waters has done damage to the turtles numbers, due to the fishing nets. Sadly, the Hawksbill turtle is nearly extinct, not from environmental pollution, nor global warming, but from the illegal trade of their beautiful shells… that one’s definitely on us! I am comforted by the ever growing efforts being made globally, to clean up our waters, mending some of the damage done to our oceanic neighbors.

While there is still so much yet to be done, healthy change takes time and energy, which starts with awareness. Knowledge is power! So, starting with a tiny turtle, maybe writing each week about different endangered species will help in some tiny way. At least that’s what I’m telling myself, so I’m making Tuesdays my nature and wildlife awareness days. While I may not have actual dollar bills to hand out to folks, this nature series is my active way of trying to Pay It Forward!

If you hadn’t picked up on it yet, animals and nature are a huge passion of mine… they have been since I was small. My childhood was filled with memories of Wildlife Safari on Sunday nights, right before Walt Disney. Even Disney offered shows featuring some form of wildlife in need, be it a cougar, a bear, a space monkey, or even a talking cat… just sayin.

If you like reading this sort of stuff, that’s great cause this 55 year old brain is chalk full of it! If not, well that’s too bad, so suck it up Buttercup! Sorry, but I just love saying that phrase whenever the opportunity arises!

You’re Welcome!