 Enough has been said about sea turtles and the critical situation they currently face, but what would actually happen if there were no more turtles? Or to be more direct, what would happen if we allow them to become extinct? The response to that question is obviously complex and perhaps difficult to understand, especially when we so often hear “But there are so many, how could they ever go extinct…" and we face daily the selfish human viewpoint of life on this planet.
So are these turtles even necessary?
It is generally understood that turtles are important; both for the maintenance of the planet’s biodiversity, due to an age old cultural relationship we have had with them or simply by because they are such unique and fascinating creatures. The reality is that turtles are part of an ecosystem hat we are barely beginning to understand. And the presence or absence of any species within it could lead to chaotic results, due to the complex relationships that bind each and every one of the organisms that surround us.
Turtles alter their habitat naturally, and over millions of years have been part of the establishment, maintenance, and evolution of environments in which the humans currently occupy. This is comparable to the African savannah region, supporting the animals that graze through to the insects that feed on the debris from these thousands of animals; maintaining a healthy ecosystem. The environments affected by the turtles begin with the beaches where they hatch. It has been estimated that each year, nesting turtles displace thousands of tons of sand, making it healthier and better able to support to more animals; in addition to the amount of energy that their eggs bring to the food chain. In short, there is an exchange of energy between the ocean and land, annually transporting thousands of tons of organic matter, phosphorus and nitrogen, nutrient essential for life.
What is their Role in the Ecosystem?
The most important interaction between a species and their environment is through the food chain. The ecological services of sea turtles are innumerable. His energy supply system allows for the transfer of significant quantities of energy (carbon) to deep areas, through the consumption of species abundant in surface waters and contributing greatly to the carbon cycle in the oceans. Some species feed on plants or animals thereby controlling their numbers. These invasive species, if not eaten, would soon overwhelm coral reefs finally destroying them and the multitudes of species they support. It takes little imagination to envision the ecological chaos that would result.
How Many is Enough… or Not Enough?
 Currently there is only one species of sea turtle that has shown any signs of recovery of its population: the Olive Ridley Turtle, which nests, as it has for millions of years, on the beaches of Banderas Bay. However, other species of sea turtle will continue their inexorable slide toward extinction if their illegal and accidental capture is not stopped. It is painfully common to hear fishermen assure us that "there are so many of them" or even, some say, too many.
There are stories from the first Europeans to arrive here describing so many turtles along the coasts that the vessels found it difficult navigate and that one could literally could go ashore walking over them. However implausible these stories may seem, it may seem more credible when you consider that there are some beaches of Oaxaca where more than 30 thousand sea turtles have been recorded clambering laboriously out of the ocean to spawn in a single day!
Today, it was impossible to know for sure how many beaches around the world where this phenomenon occurred in the past, given the degree to which turtles have been exploited by human since prehistory, but scientists believe that the population of the Olive Ridley Turtle, once the most abundant on the planet, has yet to recover to half of its original population.
There is still time to act and change our way of looking at nature. Let’s start recognizing its true value. Man tends to measure the value of everything around us in economic terms, using a price tag to represent what real value every element of our planet (living or dead) has for humanity. Paradoxically, man seems to have been calculating the cost of allowing these turtle to go extinct, versus that of rescuing and recovering their populations, with no consideration given to the significant environmental value of the important invisible services they provide.
If human beings we were more fair in their dealings and actually recognized the “fair market value” that every component of nature is worth, surely one could easily conclude that our future has been "mortgaged to the hilt", edging us ever closer to environmental bankruptcy. Nature has long been entitled to charge us for the outstanding payments due on what she has given up along with all the accumulated interest on those debts. Without a major change in both attitude and practice, that day is coming… |
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