In the space of a few days, turtles, tortoises and terrapins have made the news again, which is great.
First there was news about how the 'migration mystery is solved' in sea turtles. Well it isn't really solved, we (humans) have just worked out that sea turtles can determine latitude and longitude. The difficult part was longitude, and as pointed out by one of the authors it took centuries for sailors to figure it out. It was so difficult in fact that the British government of the day past the Longitude Act awarding £20 000 to the person who could find a way to determine longitude within 30 nautical miles. In the mid 1700' that was a small fortune! John Harrison eventually worked it out.
So the small matter of longitude is in built in loggerhead hatchlings from the day they are born...
This article was on the BBC web site, never made it to TV news (I'll blame that on the current geopolitics and war games going on), but it made it to the web copies of various papers and was on national radio in France (and other countries?).
The fact that turtles get into mainstream news, for reasons other than they are disappearing is great; only when people understand what is going on and that there is more to the story than 'turtles are critically endangered' and they are doomed. No they are not out of trouble, but we have a lot to learn from these animals and the world around us.
How accurate is your GPS?
The doom and gloom leads me to the next story... going on land with our armoured friends. According to a new study over half of the 328 species of tortoise and terrapins are threatened with extinction. This excludes the 7 species of sea turtles, which are all in a poor state (except maybe the Olive ridley). The full report is available from the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, listing the 25 most endangered species, followed by a following group of 40.
The story is the same all around: habitat destruction, collecting for consumption, and the pet trade.
Sound familiar? well it should do. The same happens to the sea turtles and I am sure that if leatherbacks weren't quite as huge, people would want those in aquariums also!
I guess 'one' is supposed to have faith, believe that things can change and can be changed. And if you ask why turtles? (The obvious answer would be what are you doing here?!)
Well maybe we should consider the importance of these species. They are important
Do they really have to go the way of the Dodo?
First there was news about how the 'migration mystery is solved' in sea turtles. Well it isn't really solved, we (humans) have just worked out that sea turtles can determine latitude and longitude. The difficult part was longitude, and as pointed out by one of the authors it took centuries for sailors to figure it out. It was so difficult in fact that the British government of the day past the Longitude Act awarding £20 000 to the person who could find a way to determine longitude within 30 nautical miles. In the mid 1700' that was a small fortune! John Harrison eventually worked it out.
So the small matter of longitude is in built in loggerhead hatchlings from the day they are born...
This article was on the BBC web site, never made it to TV news (I'll blame that on the current geopolitics and war games going on), but it made it to the web copies of various papers and was on national radio in France (and other countries?).
The fact that turtles get into mainstream news, for reasons other than they are disappearing is great; only when people understand what is going on and that there is more to the story than 'turtles are critically endangered' and they are doomed. No they are not out of trouble, but we have a lot to learn from these animals and the world around us.
How accurate is your GPS?
The doom and gloom leads me to the next story... going on land with our armoured friends. According to a new study over half of the 328 species of tortoise and terrapins are threatened with extinction. This excludes the 7 species of sea turtles, which are all in a poor state (except maybe the Olive ridley). The full report is available from the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, listing the 25 most endangered species, followed by a following group of 40.
The story is the same all around: habitat destruction, collecting for consumption, and the pet trade.
Sound familiar? well it should do. The same happens to the sea turtles and I am sure that if leatherbacks weren't quite as huge, people would want those in aquariums also!
I guess 'one' is supposed to have faith, believe that things can change and can be changed. And if you ask why turtles? (The obvious answer would be what are you doing here?!)
Well maybe we should consider the importance of these species. They are important
- ecologically: maintaining habitats (without tortoise on the Galapagos island, many plant species would be in danger; in fact it was so bad that goats have been culled in a lot of parts and breeding programs for tortoise have been put in place to help restore that unique and beautiful world)
- economically: you would be amazed how many people go on holiday to see a specific species alive. for a bit of reading: Money talks, and there are many more reports.
- scientific: we know next to nothing about so many species, yet we are set on destroying them and losing them for ever. We have a lot to learn from them. What if the navigational system in turtles can help humans improve geolocation systems? and what if molecules secreted by polyps can help cure cancer?
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| Astrochelys radiata. ©Dom |
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