ANNA MARIA ISLAND – World Sea Turtle Day is Tuesday, June 16, and you can celebrate with the Sea Turtle Conservancy on the birthday of its founder, Dr. Archie Carr.
Carr is remembered as the father of sea turtle biology and the conservation movement that engendered groups like Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring, which works with the Sea Turtle Conservancy each year to satellite tag a turtle on local beaches and follow her travels.
Sea turtles have been nesting on beaches since the time of dinosaurs, about 110 million years, and have remained mostly unchanged. They contribute to the well-being of sea life and the environment in many ways. For example, green sea turtles, which nest on Anna Maria Island, eat seagrass; like regular grass, seagrass needs to be kept short to ensure it’s healthy and continues to grow along the ocean floor and provide a place for the breeding and development of many species of fish. Leatherback and hawksbill sea turtles help keep the populations of jellyfish and sponges in check.
Here’s how you can celebrate sea turtles on Tuesday and every day of the year:
- Turn off your lights. If you live in or are vacationing in a beachfront residence, turn your beach-facing lights off or close your blinds or curtains. Lights cause nesting and hatchling turtles to wander. Owners, install sea turtle-friendly lighting to help mothers and hatchlings go in the right direction.
- Clean up the beach. Remove any trash from the beach that might hinder a turtle’s nesting. Also, knock down sandcastles and fill in holes so that the ground is flat and there is nothing in the way of hatchlings when they’re making their way to the Gulf of Mexico.
- Plastic that ends up in the ocean gets eaten by turtles because they believe the plastic is jellyfish. Over 100 million marine animals are killed each year due to plastic debris, so buy and use products that decrease the use of plastic.
