Sea Turtles Around The World Are Thriving Thanks To Deserted Beaches
Global lockdowns have emptied beaches of human activity and seen a reduced amount of harmful waste - allowing sea turtles to thrive in their thousands.
With the coronavirus lockdown keeping humans indoors, sea turtles around the world are able to have unprecedentedly-peaceful nesting seasons.
Usually, crowded beaches, irresponsible ‘turtle-tourists’, and fishing vessels, can all interrupt or even prevent entirely the nesting of turtles, who swim in from the sea to gather and nest on beaches and coastlines. But amid the current lockdown, experts are now reporting that nesting seasons are thriving.
Around 70,000 olive ridley sea turtles were seen nestling along the coast of Odisha, India, whilst in Florida, experts welcomed a “significant” increase in numbers as 76 nests have been spotted along Juno Beach.
Usually the fishing industry presents a huge threat to sea turtles, as hatchlings can be caught in active or discarded nets, or be struck by boats. The currently reduced numbers of fishing vessels has allowed for advantageous conditions for nesting sea turtles.
“The chances that turtles are going to be inadvertently struck and killed will be lower,” David Godfrey, the executive director of the Sea Turtle Conservancy, told West Palm Beach news channel 12. “All of the reduced human presence on the beach also means that there will be less garbage and other plastics entering the marine environment.
“Ingestion and entanglement in plastic and marine debris also are leading causes of injury to sea turtles.”
Sarah Hirsch, senior manager of research and data at the Loggerhead MarineLife Center in Juno Beach, told the news station that “we’re excited to see our turtles thrive in this environment.”
“Our world has changed, but these turtles have been doing this for millions of years and it’s just reassuring and gives us hope that the world is still going on.”
It’s not just sea turtles, either. From lambs playing on a playground roundabout to mountain goats eating residential hedges, many animals have been spotted to be making the most of the human lockdown.
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