Online:
Visits:
Stories:
Profile image
By Sound Of Heart - Galactic Free Press
Contributor profile | More stories
Story Views

Now:
Last Hour:
Last 24 Hours:
Total:

Turtle Found Covered In Barnacles And Leeches Receives Epic Sendoff Once Healed

Tuesday, March 14, 2017 21:10
% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.

(Before It's News)

by Amelia Kinney, True Activist

A crowd of five hundred gathered last weekend to watch the release of a loggerhead turtle named Poppy back into the wild. According to the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach,

“Poppy was found floating near Hutchinson Island last October covered in barnacles and leeches. Initial bloodwork showed anemia, hypoglycemia and overall poor health due to starvation”.

Poppy spent almost six months at the turtle rehabilitation center, receiving much-needed treatments.


http://thedo.do/2nxJCae

IUCN’s Red List classifies the loggerhead sea turtle as a species vulnerable to extinction. National Geographic attributes this consistent population decline to “pollution, shrimp trawling, and development in their nesting areas”. Sea turtles are especially vulnerable to ocean pollution, as they often mistake floating plastic bags for jellyfish. Aside from releasing toxic compounds, ingested plastics can cause “intestinal blockage, reduced nutrient absorption and malnutrition, suffocation, ulcerations, or starvation”.

Loggerheads are the world’s largest hard-shelled sea turtle, weighing over 250 pounds and measuring almost six feet long. Some loggerheads have been recorded to weigh over 1000 pounds. Sea turtle nesting season officially began in Palm Beach County on March 1st. Last year, over 16,000 nests were recorded on the 9.5 mile stretch of beach that is monitored by the Center— accounting for an estimated 5% of the world’s loggerhead sea turtle nests. Human use of artificial lighting causes tens of thousands of hatchling deaths every year. The Center website advises, “flash photography at night during nesting season is in violation of the law as the light may deter nesting”. 

“Modern sea turtles evolved around 110 million years ago, and are some of the most fascinating creatures,” said Jack E. Lighton, president of LMC, “Sea turtles tell us the health of our ocean; the ocean tells us the health of our planet. We are honored to advocate for sea turtles and the ocean and beaches they call home. We invite our community to join in our efforts.”

Help the Loggerhead Marinelife Center by “adopting” a turtle today!

 


This article (Turtle Found Covered In Barnacles And Leeches Receives Epic Sendoff Once Healed) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and TrueActivist.com


http://www.trueactivist.com/turtle-found-covered-in-barnacles-and-leeches-receives-epic-sendoff-once-healed/

Category: 


Source: http://soundofheart.org/galacticfreepress/content/turtle-found-covered-barnacles-and-leeches-receives-epic-sendoff-once-healed

Report abuse

Comments

Your Comments
Question   Razz  Sad   Evil  Exclaim  Smile  Redface  Biggrin  Surprised  Eek   Confused   Cool  LOL   Mad   Twisted  Rolleyes   Wink  Idea  Arrow  Neutral  Cry   Mr. Green

Top Stories
Recent Stories

Register

Newsletter

Email this story
Email this story

If you really want to ban this commenter, please write down the reason:

If you really want to disable all recommended stories, click on OK button. After that, you will be redirect to your options page.