Turtle Bay is a beautiful beach on the west coast of Tobago. This is one of the beaches where the Leatherback Turtles come every year to lay their eggs from March to July. These magnificent creatures survived the extinction of the dinosaurs and are 'descendants of one of the oldest family trees in history, spanning 100 million years. But today leatherback turtles, the most widely distributed reptiles on Earth, are threatened with extinction themselves, in large part due to the carelessness of humans.' [Mrosovsky et al. Leatherback turtles: The menace of plastic. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2009; 58 (2): 287 DOI:
10.1016/j.marpolbul.2008.10.018] Leatherback Turtles take decades to reach maturity so the full impact of human actions has not yet been realised. However, we do know that rubbish has a major impact on the health of leatherback turtles. 'They are also particularly susceptible to ocean pollution, mistaking plastic bags for their favourite food, jellyfish.' [
http://www.sos-tobago.org/Leatherbacks.html, 20/03/10] The Marine Conservation Society has warned about the dangers of plastic bags which can lead to blockages in turtle's throats and eventually death. Research by Dalhousie University's Dr James supports these warnings. He looked at all the post-mortems on turtles over the last century. Having examined 371 post-mortems since 1968, the results showed that 'over one third of the turtles had eaten plastic.' [Mrosovsky et al. Leatherback turtles: The menace of plastic. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2009; 58 (2): 287 DOI:
10.1016/j.marpolbul.2008.10.018] The report in the ScienceDaily (Mar. 16, 2009) tells us that: 'Once leatherbacks ingest plastic, thousands of spines lining the throat and oesophagus make it nearly impossible to regurgitate. The plastic can lead to partial or even complete obstruction of the gastrointestinal tract, resulting in decreased digestive efficiency, energetic and reproductive costs and, for some, starvation.' What are we doing to these wonderful creatures putting them under so much stress, pain and danger? Why are we not doing more to safeguard these beautiful animals who have survived for centuries? Do we want to be the ones who eventually bring about their extinction?
On the 4
th March 2009 The Manta Dive Centre got a group of guests from the hotel together to clean Turtle Beach. We were a small group compared to the number of guests staying at the Turtle Beach Hotel but even a small group can make a big statement and I hope that others watching our efforts paused for a moment to think about what we were doing. This is a public beach so it is not routinely cleaned by the hotel staff and, of course, is subject to locals carrying out their daily business but it was with great sadness that we noted that by far the messiest part of the beach was in front of the wall of the hotel. Here the rubbish mainly consisted of cigarette butts and plastic drink straws. It is beyond me how anyone can sit there enjoying the beautiful view and then throw their cigarette butts over the wall or allow their drink straws to blow away. It really doesn't take much effort to ensure that these items end up in a bin and to guarantee that this view will remain beautiful in future for all to enjoy including the turtles. We all need to take action to ensure that our beaches and seas stay clean. It only takes a few small steps to reduce our rubbish and dispose of it properly! Our group only took a small amount of time out of their holiday to make a big difference. An hour out of your holiday isn't much to ask if it means the beautiful place you booked to stay remains in that state in the future and that the wildlife does not suffer as a result of our actions. Next time you walk along a beach perhaps take a bag with you and clear a little bit of the shoreline at the same time. Small actions can make a BIG impact! Thank you.
Useful Contacts:
- Manta Dive Centre – based at The Turtle Beach Hotel – thank you for suggesting the clean up.
- The Marine Conservation Society – www.mcsuk.org This is a UK charity committed to protecting the marine environment and its wildlife. They organise annual and quarterly beach clean ups in the UK. You can also adopt a turtle through their website.
- SOS (Save Our Sea Turtles) – www.sos-tobago.org This turtle conservation group are based in Tobago. They would like to hear from volunteers to help with tagging turtles, counting nest sites and rescuing hatchlings. They require a minimum of 12 days commitment but if you can't offer this there are still ways you can support their work.
- Project Aware – www.projectaware.org all aspects of marine conservation including beach and under water clean ups.
Do you like to clean up beaches in your area? Get your own Beach Cleaner Products here! [caption id="attachment_3867" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Get beach cleaner tshirts, sweatshirts etc here!"]
[/caption]
On the 4th March 2009 The Manta Dive Centre got a group of guests from the hotel together to clean Turtle Beach. We were a small group compared to the number of guests staying at the Turtle Beach Hotel but even a small group can make a big statement and I hope that others watching our efforts paused for a moment to think about what we were doing. This is a public beach so it is not routinely cleaned by the hotel staff and, of course, is subject to locals carrying out their daily business but it was with great sadness that we noted that by far the messiest part of the beach was in front of the wall of the hotel. Here the rubbish mainly consisted of cigarette butts and plastic drink straws. It is beyond me how anyone can sit there enjoying the beautiful view and then throw their cigarette butts over the wall or allow their drink straws to blow away. It really doesn't take much effort to ensure that these items end up in a bin and to guarantee that this view will remain beautiful in future for all to enjoy including the turtles. We all need to take action to ensure that our beaches and seas stay clean. It only takes a few small steps to reduce our rubbish and dispose of it properly! Our group only took a small amount of time out of their holiday to make a big difference. An hour out of your holiday isn't much to ask if it means the beautiful place you booked to stay remains in that state in the future and that the wildlife does not suffer as a result of our actions. Next time you walk along a beach perhaps take a bag with you and clear a little bit of the shoreline at the same time. Small actions can make a BIG impact! Thank you. 
Useful Contacts: 