Help Evie Save the Turtles

Hello, my name is Evie and I am going to be volunteering in Costa Rica in May to help save the turtles!

Here are some reasons as to why turtles are so important to our marine life. Turtles are truly extraordinary creatures and beloved all over the world, but the reality is that many species are critically endangered. Costa Rica is home to several types of protected turtle, including the Leatherback, Green, Olive Ridley and Hawksbill. While these turtles produce thousands of hatchlings, only a few reach adulthood.

One of the most important roles turtles have in the food chain is as predators, sea turtles are the biggest jellyfish eaters in the oceans. Without sea turtles, the jellyfish population would go completely out of control. Jellyfishes might seem harmless but they actually eat a lot of fish larvae, and if their population were to grow then they will eat a lot more fish larvae, and this will affect the fish population, and after enough time there would be nearly no fishes left in the ocean.

Sea turtles, especially hawksbill sea turtles, are one of the very few species that are able to eat sea sponges. The physical structure and chemical composition of sea sponges prevent most sea creatures from eating them. But hawksbill turtles have beak-like mouths that they use to rip the sponges apart when they eat them. By doing this they remove the sponges from the area and allow other species, like coral to take their place. If the turtles wouldn’t remove the sponges they would remain there forever and coral would have no place to grow, and as a result sea sponges would dominate the sea. Another important thing that they do when they bite the sea sponges is that they leave small bits behind that are eaten by smaller fish and other small sea animals.

Not only will I be helping to save the turtles by building hatcheries, replanting mangroves, collecting turtle eggs for protection measures and also beach clean ups, I will also be helping the local community.

Please spare what you can to help me make as much of a difference as possible to save these incredible creatures! :)