…we all do

Last week’s article about the arrest of three turtle poachers in Montego Bay raised some questions.  A lot of people want to know “Are sea turtles really good for anything?  Why shouldn’t we just eat them or sell them?  At least we get a meal and a little money.”

In fact, live sea turtles have quite a lot of value, especially to our tourism industry.  First, divers and snorkelers really want big sea creatures.  These people, especially the divers, spend a lot more money on their visits than the ones that just hang out at bars and beaches.  We’ve killed off all the big fish, so turtles are among the few big marine animals we have left.

Turtles, nurse sharks and big stingrays are all good underwater attractions, interesting and graceful to watch as they go about their business, but turtles have a few advantages.  You’re more likely to see them in fairly shallow water.  If you’re quiet and respectful, they’re easier to get near than sharks and rays, and less dangerous if you surprise them.

Second, turtles help to keep our reefs and sea grass beds healthy and productive.  It’s these reefs and grass beds that build and protect our beaches and provide homes and breeding grounds for fish and other sea creatures.

Hawksbill turtles have narrow, pointed jaws that cross to form a sharp beak.  This fits them well for scraping and digging their favourite food – sponges, tunicates and other creatures that form a crust on the reef.  As they feed, the turtles leave behind the patches of clean, bare rock that new corals need to get established.

Green turtles help with reef-cleaning.  Their strong rounded jaws have sharp saw-tooth edges to help them tear off the algae that overgrow and smother coral.  The job of controlling algae used to be shared between the turtles, spiny sea urchins and some kinds of fish, especially parrotfish.  The urchins are making a slow comeback after most of them died in the 1980s, and the parrots – especially the large ones—have been almost wiped out by overfishing.  That leaves the turtles with most of the cleanup job.

Green turtles also eat sea grass.  Because turtles (unlike fish) can digest all of the grass they eat, there is less waste left to decay on the sea floor and rob the water of oxygen. Turtle grazing lets more sunlight reach the sea floor and encourages new root growth in the grass beds.  These grass beds have two useful functions that almost nothing else can provide.  First, they anchor the sea floor and stop beach sand from being washed away by waves.  Second, they give baby fish, crabs, conch and lobsters a safe place to grow up.

Every turtle we lose to poachers brings us closer to the day when there won’t be any left.  This is especially true for hawksbills.  It’s estimated that for the whole world, only 15,000 female hawksbills nest each year, and less than 5,000 of these are in the Caribbean.  5,000 turtles laying 600 eggs each means three million eggs a year, but less than one in 1,000 will survive the 20 years it takes to produce an adult turtle that can make babies of its own.  Three million eggs means at most 3,000 new turtles.

We can make those odds a little better.  The strict rules protecting turtles, around the world and in Jamaica, have two purposes.  First, save what’s left – stop killing adult turtles.  Second, grow more – leave the nests alone, and protect hatching grounds as much as possible.  Sea turtles survived the extinction of the dinosaurs.  Without help, they won’t survive us.