Save The Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle

The Kemp's Ridley Sea turtle is on the edge of extinction. This species has been declared as critically endangered by IUCN (World Conservation Union) and CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). The main reason behind the decrement of their number is over harvesting of their eggs. During the last century their eggs have been harvested in huge amount for feeding human beings.

To harvest their eggs, human beings used to catch them in great numbers from the sea. As they were taken away from their natural environment and put in an unfriendly environment, they could not cope up with this unfriendly environment and their number started decreasing. As their meat is very tasty and liked by many people, poacher still hunt them for making money without thinking about the impact on them and the environment.

Some natural facts are also responsible for their declination. Erosion of sea beaches is one of the vital reasons. As sea beaches are being eroded their nesting ground is declining and they can not come to the shore to lay eggs. Besides, if they lay eggs on the sea shore, sometimes those eggs are washed away by sea water when the beach is being eroded.

Other human created reasons are: reclamation of sea lands, unplanned forestation in sea beaches, using artificial light sources near sea beaches etc. To attract the tourists from around the world, many countries are filling the sea beaches and making new lands to build hotels and other types of entertainment centers. As a result the nesting area is decreasing, so are the turtles. Artificial lights distract the hatchlings from heading towards the sea. After coming out of the eggs the hatchlings move towards sea by watching the reflection of moon light on the sea water. But if we use artificial lights, it will misguide them and they won't survive. Predators will eat them before they reach their destination.

Now-a-days, steps like protecting their nesting ground and using turtle excluder fishing fleets while fishing have been taken. Many countries have made treaties among themselves to stop poaching. But due to the lack of proper co-ordination these laws are not being enforced in a proper way.

The Kemp's Ridley sea turtle is a small but wonderful creation of the nature. Their importance in keeping the balance of ecology is vast. So their nesting ground should be protected and laws should be enforced properly to stop hunting them.