#green turtle

Photos by Stephanie Gunby, Simon Waitland and Indira MaciasPhotos by Stephanie Gunby, Simon Waitland and Indira Macias (CNS): Volunteers on the Department of Environment’s Turtle Team were on a regular beach monitoring patrol at Rum Point last Thursday when they found a large, female green sea turtle trapped in a swimming pool. DoE researchers Alex Prat and Joe Roche raced to the scene to lead…

Turtle nesting season in Trinidad and Tobago runs from March 1 to August 31 and represents one of the most significant sea turtle conservation events in the world. Each year thousands of endangered sea turtles return to the same Caribbean beaches where they were born to lay eggs, continuing a biological cycle that has existed for more than 100 million years. Trinidad and Tobago hosts five…

The green turtle has been rescued from the brink of extinction in what scientists are calling a major conservation victory. Once hunted extensively for turtle soup, its eggs as a delicacy and decorative shells, the ancient mariner saw its numbers plummet and has been listed as endangered since the 1980s. Now, thanks to decades of global conservation efforts - from protecting eggs and releasing hatchlings on beaches to reducing accidental capture in fishing nets - new data shows green turtle populations are rebounding. "We must use this win as a catalyst to achieve numerous other wins," said Dr Nicolas Pilcher of the Marine Research Foundation, a non-profit based in Sabah, Malaysia. Green turtles are one of the largest species of sea turtles, named for the greenish colour of their body fat, which comes from their plant-based diet. They are one of seven living species of sea turtles, two of which are critically endangered.