World Sea Turtle Day: 5 curiosities of this species that you didn’t know

Posted on 18 July 2023

June 16 is World Sea Turtle Day, a date to remember the wonders of one of the oldest groups of reptiles on the planet and raise public awareness about their conservation state.

If you have ever been lucky enough to see a sea turtle, you will know that they are very charismatic. They have been on our planet long before us, and there is still a lot to know about them. World Sea Turtle Day seeks to raise awareness among us about these species' threats and their conservation status.

From WWF Peru we tell you some curiosities of these ocean's inhabitants. Do not miss it:

Long-lived species: sea turtles have been navigating the oceans for the last 110 million years. Unlike the terrestrial ones, they usually live much less, they have a varied lifetime that will depend on each species. Their longevity is between 50 and 100 years.

Diet: They don’t teeth. These have been replaced by the keratin beak covering the bones of sea turtles' upper and lower jaw. Their diet depends on the species, for example, the hawksbill is a specialist in sponges, the loggerhead in crustaceans and mollusks, the olive ridley is more varied, and only the green one feeds on sea grass and algae. And the leatherback turtle consumes jellyfish during its adult stage, being one of the main controllers of the jellyfish populations in the sea.

Endangered: 5 species that inhabit in Peru, are under a category of threat by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Mainly due to human activities. For example, bycatch, which commonly leads to the death of the animal, is the most important threat to these species. In addition, its eggs and meat are used for direct human consumption and its shell for trade, mainly for decoration. Unbelievable, right?

Shells: The five species that inhabit Peru have hard shells. Only, the leatherback turtle, has a soft or flexible shell. The shell of sea turtles is part of their skeleton and is made up of more than 50 bones, including the rib cage and the vertebral column. They use it as protection against predators.

Baby sea turtles: When they emerge from their nests, they seek the sea to find shelter and food. First, to reach the sea they orient themselves through the natural light of the moon and the stars. They use their electromagnetic navigation system. However, when a beach has a lot of artificial lighting (light pollution) the little turtles can become disoriented from their path, being exposed to death from dehydration, being run over, predators and other causes.

Sea turtles are key species in the sea, by protecting them we are helping to conserve many other species and maintaining a healthy sea. In this regard. Therefore, WWF Peru promotes their conservation, considering that their main threat is the incidental capture during fishing of other species. In this regard, efforts have been focused as follows:

1. Implementation of LED lights in artisanal fishing communities

Technologies are being used to reduce the incidental capture of sea turtles, such as LED lights in curtain nets in the towns of Punta Mero, Zorritos, Cancas, San José, Salaverry, Pucusana, and Tambo de Mora. In addition, many organizations are committed to the conservation of sea turtles in fishing communities and have joined efforts to take care of these species.

But what are these LED lights and how do they work?

LED light-emitting diodes (LED lights) are devices that emit light from batteries (batteries). In the case of sea turtles, the researchers found that green light placed on gillnets helps the turtles see the nets, reducing their bycatch by deterring them from moving near the fishing nets.

2. Training in good practices for handling and releasing marine megafauna caught incidentally in artisanal and industrial fishing.

Since 2018, WWF has provided technical support to the crew members of fishing companies in the industrial sector and to trained artisanal fishermen, teaching them how to handle and release different species of seabirds, sea turtles, sharks, rays and small cetaceans. In addition, together with some fishing companies in the industrial sector, tools have been provided to their crews, such as chinguillos, gloves, and kennels, among others. That helps them at the time they transfer and release each individual.