Great Leatherback Turtle Race
Raising Awareness and Money for Highly Endangered Sea Turtles
Female leatherback turtles return from their nesting site wearing satellite tags to track their progress as the world watches, learns and, hopefully, helps protect them.
The Great Turtle Race website is tracking the movement of 11 female leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) as they make their way back to the Galapagos from nesting beaches on the Costa Rican coast. A cooperative project between US and Costa Rican businesses and environmental organizations, the race highlights the race for survival of the species. On site viewers can follow the progress of the turtles, cheer on their favorite, learn about the dangers facing them and find ways to support turtle conservation, all while having fun.
The leatherback turtle, like its fellow sea turtles, is faced with many obstacles to its survival. Sea turtles return to their natal beach to lay eggs after several years at sea. But many of those nesting beaches are now developed, with houses where the turtles used to lay their eggs. And artificial lights that confuse the turtles as they attempt to return to the sea. In some places volunteers help guide the nestlings as they leave the beach to prevent them from heading in the wrong direction. The human presence also keeps the number of predators down.
Egg poaching is still a problem for leatherback turtles as well. In Sri Lanka, the Turtle Conservation Project hires former egg poachers to guard the nests. Their knowledge of what turtle nests look like and areas where the turtles have traditionally nested is now used to save the species they once exploited.
Leatherback turtles feed mainly on jellyfish. Plastic bags and jellyfish look very similar to a turtle swimming beneath the ocean’s surface. In fact, in one study young turtles preferentially chose plastic bags over jellyfish when both were present. Once the bags are swallowed, they remain in the animal’s digestive tract causing a blockage and killing the turtle. In addition to the plastic bags, turtles are often entangled in other marine debris as they migrate or feed.
Once at sea, in addition to the plastic debris, fishing nets and long line hooks kill many of those who make it off the beach. Turtle Exclusion Devices (TEDs) offer an escape to turtles trapped in nets. Restrictions on fishing in migration pathways can also make a difference.
As can awareness. The Great Turtle Race will help bring the plight of the leatherback and other sea turtles to the fore, at least for a time. And in that time more people will learn about these ancient ocean residents and ways of protecting them.
