Anderson 1

Calista Anderson
DeBock
6 October 2016
English 4

Human-Element Negatively Affects Sea Turtles

Sea turtle nests on the east-coast have reached a record high, however the future for these
marine animals appears to be poor due to many human-caused threats. Human element is putting
sea turtles in danger now more than ever. Ocean pollution, beach lighting, beach dunes, seawalls,
and fishing nets are just a few of the obstacles that hatchling turtles have to face to get to and
survive in the ocean. Every year, thousands of turtles are killed by ingesting plastic pollution,
distracted by artificial beach lights, and drowned in commercial fishing nets. Conservation
organizations and wildlife refuges are attempting to decrease the number of sea turtles dying
each year due to human-element. Public awareness and conservation efforts are needed in order
to protect and save sea turtles from these human-caused obstacles.
Baby sea turtles already face many natural threats in order to reach the ocean after
hatching. Predators such as flies, coyotes, crabs, ants, and birds pose the number one threat to
baby sea turtles (Boschult). If the hatchlings reach the water, they face barracudas, jacks, and
larger marine animals also. Some larger animals, including humans, can raid the nests to take or
eat the eggs before they are even hatched. A hatchling sea turtles journey is naturally hard but
human-element adds various life-threatening obstacles. Ocean pollution is one of the biggest
threats making sea turtles lives harder and shorter. In Sea Turtles at Risk as Scientists Predict
More than 50 Percent Are Ingesting Marine Debris, Dr. Schuyler states that More than 50

Anderson 2
percent of sea turtles are ingesting marine debris, a huge amount of which is floating around the
worlds oceans. Trash and debris wash up on shores all over the world, even in the most remote
places. For some sea turtles, eating just one piece of trash can cause death. To a sea turtle, a
plastic bag floating in the water looks like a jellyfish or pyrosome, which sea turtles are known to
eat. The plastic will suffocate the sea turtle or get lodged in its throat, choking it. The South
Carolina United Turtle Enthusiasts (SCUTE) is an organization that helps baby sea turtles get to
the ocean safely after hatching. They also organize beach clean-up days where the volunteers get
together to pick up all the trash on the beach in hopes that it will save a turtles life. In Baby Sea
Turtles Left Behind in Nests Get Helping Hand to the Sea, co-coordinator Mari Armstrong
states, They [people] leave everything on the beach. Its insane. I dont understand it. And the
turtles get caught up in the trash on the beach and they eat the plastic. So even the little baby
turtles, when they get out there, theyre going to look for little pieces of plastic. Local
governments are trying to implement laws that their beaches clean of this harmful pollution.
Baby sea turtles are instinctively drawn to the brightest horizon, which in theory should
be the moon, however artificial lights are complicating this task for the hatchlings. This artificial
lighting includes LED flashlights, beach-front housing, and headlights from vehicles. When
asked about flashlights, Armstrong in Baby Sea Turtles Left Behind in Nests Get Helping Hand
to the Sea, explains, These turtles have never seen light. So imagine someone with an LED
flashlight and they pick up that baby, and this is the first time theyve ever seen light, youre
going to blind them. Once its blind, it dies. An alternative to prevent the damage that these
flashlights cause, is using a red LED light instead. The hatchling can see a red light, but they are
not drawn to it, states Amber Keuhn, the Hilton Head Sea Turtle Protection Project manager in
Want to Protect the Sea Turtles? Dont Use a Flashlight. Conservation organizations have been

Anderson 3
trying to inform tourists about the dangers LED flashlights have on turtles. Even local residents
contribute to the light-pollution that distracts hatchling turtles. Home-owners with beach-front
property are asked to keep their lights off during sea turtle nesting seasons to not draw the sea
turtles in the wrong direction. When a distracted sea turtle follows an artificial light, such the
headlights on a beach vehicle, someone with a flashlight walking down the beach, or the lights
on a beach house, it is more likely to be eaten by predators, die of exhaustion, or dry out
(Zattau). Sadly, not much can be done about highways and roads built too close to the shore. The
lights, movement, and sound from traffic on the road draws the turtles away from the ocean,
leaving them to an untimely demise. Controlling the amount of artificial light is much easier in a
state or national park, however park rangers have trouble lowering this threat on public beaches.
Erosion, sand dunes, seawalls, and fishing nets are threats that conservation efforts are
trying to protect sea turtles from. National wildlife refuges are doing this by creating an
environment for turtles that is free of development, disorienting beach lighting, and seawalls.
Cages are sometimes put around nests to protect them from predators, including humans. Nests
are sometimes marked with brightly colored flags to warn people to leave them alone, and
prevent them from getting run over by beach vehicles. Some sea turtle nests are relocated from
areas where they are likely to wash away due to erosion to safer places such as state parks (Sea
Turtle Nests Up Dramatically in the Southeast). Beaches where nests are relocated to are
usually free of infrastructure and people. This helps eliminate some of the human threat to the
hatchlings, giving them a better chance of survival. According to Sea Turtles, another humancaused threat is the highly evolved fishing industry to meet the ever-growing demand for seafood
worldwide. The standard method for commercial fishing is to drag large tow nets behind a boat
for an extended period of time. Sea turtles can easily get stuck in the nets, become trapped

Anderson 4
underwater and be unable to come to the surface for air. By the time that these turtles are hoisted
onto the deck of the boat, they have already drowned. A new form of technology described in
Sea Turtles is being used in the United States to prevent sea turtles from getting stuck in
fishermans tow nets. This cage-like device called a Turtle Excluder Device (TED) deflects
turtles but allows fish and shellfish into the net. TEDs are now mandatory for tow nets on fishing
boats and commercial shrimp nets and are estimated to be saving thousands of turtles per year.
Seawalls are another threat because they could block the hatchlings direct path to the ocean.
Vehicles driving along the beach may leave deep tracks in the sand that make a turtles path to
the ocean difficult and long, leaving them more susceptible to predators and death by exhaustion.
Vehicles on the beach also pose the threat of accidentally running over a turtle nest, destroying it,
and crushing the unhatched eggs inside.
Public awareness and conservation efforts are needed in order to protect and save sea
turtles from these human caused obstacles. Human-element is now putting the sea turtle
population in horrible danger due to threats such as seawalls, beach lighting, pollution, and
commercial fishing. Conservation organizations are attempting to educate people on the danger
that LED flashlights, fishing nets, and trash left on the beach pose for sea turtles and hatchlings.
Due to these threats thousands of turtles are blinded by LED flashlights, drowned in commercial
fishing nets, and killed by ingesting plastic debris in the ocean. The only way to decrease these
casualties is to educate the public on these human caused threats, and continue conservation
efforts to save the sea turtles from human-element.

Anderson 5
Works Cited

Boschult, Christian. "Baby sea turtles left behind in nests get helping hand to the sea." Sun News,
The (Myrtle Beach, SC) 30 Aug. 2016: Points of View Reference Center. Web. 15 Sept.
2016.

Moss, Teresa. "Want to protect the sea turtles? Don't use a flashlight." Island Packet, The (Hilton
Head, SC) 12 Aug. 2016: Points of View Reference Center. Web. 15 Sept. 2016.

"Sea Turtle Nests Up Dramatically In Southeast." M2presswire (2013): Points of View Reference
Center. Web. 15 Sept. 2016.

"Sea Turtles At Risk As Scientists Predict More Than 50 Per Cent Are Ingesting Marine Debris."
ABC Premium News (n.d.): Points of View Reference Center. Web. 15 Sept. 2016.

"Sea Turtles." Environmental Encyclopedia. Gale, 2011. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web.
15 Sept. 2016.

Zattau, Dawn. "Habitat Conservation Plan for sea turtles." Endangered Species Update 15.2
(1998): S20+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 15 Sept. 2016.