From David Troeger |
There are
seven different species of sea turtles now. They are all endangered species and
three of them are critically so. All of them are born on some beach where their
mothers lay the eggs only to depart instantly in horror of the human species
for whom turtle soup is a delicacy, turtle shells become decorative items, and
turtle eggs are “absolutely delicious” low calorie meals.
Nature’s
temperature hatches the turtle’s eggs. There’s something very curiously
interesting about this hatching too. If the eggs are hatched at a temperature below
29 degree Celsius, the hatchlings will be male. Between 29 and 34 degrees, they
will be female. And above 34, the eggs won’t hatch. Climate change has driven
the temperatures well above 34 in many beaches so that turtles are being driven
to near-extinction.
Another curious fact about turtles is that the
hatchlings move to the waters on their own. They have no mothers or adults to
guide them. They discover the water and travel kilometres in it. They are
highly migratory creatures that live mostly in the ocean waters. They come
ashore rarely – just to bask or to lay eggs. The female turtles return to the same
beach where they were born in order to lay eggs, years after their birth. Aren’t
they amazing creatures?
These amazing
and cute creatures are likely to become extinct because of human beings. These
creatures which appeared on the earth 2 billion years before mankind did will
be driven to their end by mankind! Climate change is one of the chief causes.
Plastic is
another. Some time back when a dead turtle was subjected to autopsy, nearly 2
kg of plastic was found in its intestines. Once a turtle was found dead with
one end of a plastic rope jutting out of its mouth and the other end out of its
anus. We, yes you and I, have dumped 5.25 trillion macro and micro pieces of
plastic in the oceans. They weigh 269,000 tons. Every day around 8 million
pieces of plastic make their way into the oceans. Isn’t it time to think of
abandoning plastic as far as possible? For the sake of the turtles, fishes, and
other creatures in those waters?
The
protagonist of the Malayalam story mentioned at the beginning of this post
tells the other character, “I’m leaving this world of people. I’m going to live
on an island which is just as big as a football ground but is uninhabited by
people and where turtles come to lay eggs. Like Suheli. Like Mu Ko And Thong.
Like many others without names and without maps. I will live on one of them.
When the climate change heats up the earth and the island sinks under water, I will
sink too.”
Mankind will
sink. After killing almost everything else with their foul deeds. But there’s
still time to check our deeds, to correct ourselves.
PS. This post
is part of Blogchatter’s CauseAChatter.
Valid points. Sad but true.
ReplyDeleteHuman-beings have dumped so much plastic everywhere and caused pollution.
Turtles and so many creatures- both in sea & on land- are endangered.
may better sense prevail.
Odisha has Olive Ridley turtles. Gahirmatha & Rushikulya are famous nesting-places. There is Govt & local support to ensure safe hatching.
Yes, there are many agencies now that take care of this problem. Much is being done though a lot more has to be done.
DeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteThe time we have is eqiuvalent to one minute and forty seconds to midnight so better get busy resetting our approach... Lovely post, Tomichan. YAM xx
What a tragic fate for a beautiful planet!
DeleteAlthough I'm angry at the state of our planet and mankind's greedy hand at work--I'm of the view that we're the dinosaurs that will be extinct soon-ish, but this beautiful planet of ours will bounce back.
ReplyDeleteYes, our planet has a way of being reborn. I believe that too.
DeleteI feel sad and angry that we always are the root cause of all evils. Though a lot is being done but it is always less than what needs to be done to save planet earth. Somehow, I feel we are heading towards our own end and this planet will survive.
ReplyDeleteAlways less than what's needed. That's the point. India os a fine example. In one breath we preach environment protection and order mining of forests... A lot more hypocrisy and chicanery.
DeleteஃஃIf the eggs are hatched at a temperature below 29 degree Celsius, the hatchlings will be male. Between 29 and 34 degrees, they will be female.ஃஃ - Interesting. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThat was new for me too.
Delete