World Turtle Day! (see, I don't ONLY talk about penguins...)

HAPPY WORLD TURTLE DAY!!!!

World Turtle Day started in 2000 by the American Tortoise Rescue to bring attention to turtles and tortoises and encourage people to help with their conservation. There are a lot of really simple ways that we can help turtles in the wild. Especially with vacation season coming up. Check out the information below to learn how to help these amazing animals!

 Ways you can help turtles and tortoises:

• Never remove any turtles or tortoises from the wild unless they are hurt or injured and need care.
• If you see a turtle crossing the street, carefully move them to the side in the direction they were heading. If you take them back to the side they started on, they will just turn around and try to cross again (they usually have a mission in mind!).
• Never buy a turtle or tortoise from a pet store. This just increases demand from the wild.
• If you go on vacation, remember to leave the beach EXACTLY how you found it! Almost everyone goes on vacation at some point in their lives, and almost everyone visits a nice, warm, relaxing beach location! Yet most people do not realize that their fun day at the beach could end up being a possibly fatal night for sea turtles if we leave the beach a mess! Here are some points below that explain how you can help sea turtles and other aquatic animals during your vacation.

Remove anything from the beach that you brought with you. Do not leave lounge chairs, umbrellas, garbage, towels, toys, boats or anything else on the beach overnight. These items can get in the way of nesting mother sea turtles trying to find a good place to lay their eggs, or even in the way of hatchling sea turtles who are trying to make it to the water.

Fill in any holes that are dug in the sand, and flatten any sand castles that were made. I know it sounds sad to destroy all that hard work with those holes and sand castles, but these are HUGE obstacles to the hatchling sea turtles. Many hatchlings fall into these dug holes and cannot get back out and end up dying, or they become an easy target for predators such as gulls or raccoons. Also, with obstacles such as sand castles, turtles can bump into them and get confused and turn back the wrong way. Anything that stands in their direct path can cause trouble for turtles.
 
Clean-up all the garbage you see: both yours and anyone else’s. This might seem like a simple task, but it makes a HUGE difference for sea turtles and other aquatic animals. Turtles can easily mistake plastic bags and other trash for their favorite food – jellyfish. This trash gets stuck in the turtle’s digestive tract and can seriously injure or kill the turtles.

Thanks for reading! Hopefully we can all do our part to help these amazing animals! Especially when on vacation! If you are going to Florida this summer, check online for any Sea Turtle Rescues in the area and see if they offer tours of their facility. These places really are amazing and could offer a very unique experience for your typical vacation! Let me know if you end up visiting anywhere! I'd love to hear about it!