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A Witness to Mass Extinction?

We saw eleven Sea Turtles yesterday! Normally I would be ecstatic as we usually see one or two turtles during a dive to see eleven of these graceful and serene creatures would be amazing. Green Sea Turtle |  Credit Rod Dillon photo RodDillon-1_zpsbe9806b7.jpg Photo Credit Rod Dillon

Sadly, we were not diving, we were walking along a 1.5 km stretch of beach the morning after a high tide. My stomach lurched as I realized that the oddly shaped rock was a large and very dead turtle.  It and the next one appeared to be only recently dead and lay flipped over on their backs. My instinctive reaction was to think the worst and blame human perpetrators, I had only just found out that the beach here at Playa Uverito, Panama is a turtle-nesting beach.  Sadly many of the eggs never get a chance to hatch, as they are collected and sold as a delicacy. Would these same people stoop so low as to flip a turtle over and leave it stranded helpless to die a slow death? By the time we found the sixth turtle, we realized there was something else going on here. All the bodies were in different stages of decomposition, many had been dead long enough for the flesh to shrink away and the shells to flake.

Eleven turtles were found on the beach that morning, they appeared to be Olive Ridley and maybe some Hawksbill’s a critically endangered species. I stumbled back to our apartment fighting back the tears and feeling sick. What are we (humans) doing to our world and its creatures?  More importantly, what had happened here, where they caught on long lines and just dumped into the ocean as a useless by catch or was it something else? With a little research, we found various reports on the frightening phenomena that is causing hundreds of dead turtles to wash up on Central Americas shores. The consensus appears to be that the turtles are dying of toxins, probably caused by a red tide. Dogs that ate turtle carcasses in El Salvador died shortly afterwards. Why this red tide should be so disastrous when others have been and gone without the same harmful impacts is yet to be discovered. Turtles are already under threat, only one in a thousand eggs makes it to adulthood, they then have to risk the perils of coming ashore to nest, where they are at risk from predators and poachers. Once the hatchlings make it to the seas they encounter the perils of our throw away lifestyles, floating plastic bags are mistaken as jellyfish, a turtle’s favorite food.  Many dissected turtles carcasses contain large amounts of plastic clogging their intestines and bowels.  Turtles are caught on long lines and in the long dragnets popular with fishermen, air breathers they drown once they become entangled.  Now they are under threat from yet another source. I can only wonder what damage we have done and are doing to our planet. It is time we woke up and stopped killing our world. By killing our oceans, we are killing ourselves, we are tied together.  Our children and grandchildren cannot live with a dead world and our world cannot live without its oceans. Death Beach Panama-16

About the author: Born in the UK, with what must be more than a dash of Romany blood in her veins, Yvonne loved to travel even before she met Michael. Yvonne has a varied career history, which includes several laborious years as a laboratory manager, followed by a fun few years as a scuba instructor and crew in the British Virgin Islands, and then many boring years in financial services. Her discontent along with the passing of a dear friend was the prod that led to the realisation that there was a lot more do in life. It has taken almost 40 years to come full circle to realize what Yvonne’s English teacher saw all those years ago……… Yvonne’s true passion (apart from travel) is writing and now finds herself fortunate to have the time to follow her bliss and combine the two as a blogger and travel writer. Yvonne loves to tell stories and talk to lots of strangers (the best way to get the real scoop on the place). Yvonne is a “rainmaker” and makes things happen!

3 comments… add one
  • Wow! It must have been so sad to witness so many turtles suffering, or already dead. We visited a Turtle Hospital in the Florida Keys last month and though the statistics we learned were frightening, we were really encouraged to see some of the work they’re doing. Education of course is vital. Thanks for sharing this story.

    • It was heartbreaking! We shared it with a local conservation group who are convinced that the cause is illegal fishing practices. Turtles it seems are merely unwanted by catch.

  • Mira

    Yvonne,
    i woud like to get in touch with you soonest.
    Please revert to me and let’s talk at your convenince.
    I am French, live in Paris, travel th world for work and need your advise.
    Thank you
    Warmest regards
    Mira

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