By Genia Naro-Maciel
This World Sea Turtle Day is as much a cause for celebration as a call to action. On South Florida beaches, turtle mothers are coming ashore to nest, and many populations are recovering. After decades of protection, green sea turtles are rebounding and no longer classified as endangered on the global Red List of Threatened Species. These rare beacons of hope amid otherwise dire forecasts illuminate paths to a sustainable future, one that could benefit endangered organisms, fragile ecosystems and human societies alike.
This is also a call for action. Many will remember the viral video of a sea turtle having a plastic straw extricated from its nostril, sparking numerous anti-pollution campaigns. But this was just the tip of the iceberg. Conservation funding remains limited and uneven, yet pollution, coastal development, climate change, harvest, bycatch and disease continue to threaten sea turtles.
In the Gulf, the catastrophic 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill killed hundreds of thousands of animals, including sea turtles, destroying livelihoods and ecosystems. Even so, on April 12, just 10 days before Earth Day, the oil industry gained full exemption from protecting endangered species there, casting a shadow over near-extinct Rice’s whales and critically endangered sea turtles.
The Kemp’s ridley is the planet’s most endangered sea turtle, due primarily to intense historical egg harvest. Containing one of only two global nesting sites, the Gulf’s Padre Island offers essential protection from habitat loss and ongoing threats.
The people and ecosystems that rely on them are affected too. These beautiful organisms sustain economies through fisheries and tourism, and help many who depend on thriving marine life. They support healthy oceans and coasts by indicating environmental health as sentinel species, engaging people in the planet as iconic flagship species, and maintaining food web balance as keystone species.
In South Florida, globally renowned rescue and educational centers like Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton, Broward County Sea Turtle Conservation Program, Miami-Dade County Sea Turtle Conservation Program, Mote Marine Lab, and Turtle Hospital in Marathon bring turtles to safety. With local Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Networks and committed volunteers, government and commercial partners, they have rehabilitated and released thousands of vulnerable turtles while educating the public and protecting key areas.
With the support of both Floridians and visitors, Florida now represents the complex promise of endangered species recovery, with nesting numbers for some loggerheads, leatherbacks and green turtles rising significantly over the past few decades amid fluctuations. These gains reflect long-term protections such as safeguarding nesting beaches and reducing fisheries bycatch, including banning disorienting light pollution.
At local through international levels, ingredients for success center on local community involvement, supported by volunteers, scientists, governments, businesses and other professionals, in legally protecting species and areas. Over 50 years of conservation efforts reveal that individual through federal actions have a good chance of attaining win-win situations benefiting local communities, endangered species and the planet.
Even so, arguments against environmental protection focus on prioritizing economic progress and industrial deregulation over conservation. This is a false either/or choice. There are numerous well-documented ways to support economies, ecosystems and society at once through sustainable development. Interconnected, healthy systems offer many jobs, and protecting life on Earth helps keep our planet healthy and safe, as extinctions and ecosystem collapses disrupt food systems, the climate and economies.
So this World Sea Turtle Day, enjoy and support your sea turtles and protected areas. Watch turtles nest or release hatchlings with the Loggerhead Marinelife Center, which may well be one of the most inspiring experiences of a lifetime. Visit a turtle hospital, get a Florida sea turtle specialty license plate to support conservation, use turtle-friendly lights, take a run for sea turtles, think about what you buy, or whom you plan to vote for in this year’s elections.
Governments and businesses can sustain local, national and international conservation organizations, including those outlined above, and federal efforts can focus on balanced development and planetary health, working inclusively toward a sustainable future.
Genia Naro-Maciel is a sea turtle biologist; clinical professor of sustainability, environmental justice and health in liberal studies at New York University; and an OpEd Project Public Voices Fellow. This opinion piece was originally published by the Sun Sentinel, which is a media partnerof The Invading Sea. Banner photo: A green sea turtle swimming (iStock image).
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