Happy World Sea Turtle Day! Though these beautiful and important creatures deserve everyone’s attention year-round, I like to honor this day, June 16th, to acknowledge and bring awareness to their plight.

I found this video about sea turtles from the Newport Aquarium in Newport, Kentucky, which my family just visited this past April (2022):

The aquarium had a really great display with a cross-section of how a sea turtle nest looks under the sand:

It is extremely important to protect these nests since hatchlings have a very low chance of survival to adulthood. Here’s a TED-Ed video explaining the struggles hatchlings face:

What You Can Do

The best thing you can do is to learn, and then educate others! Please read my article about the importance of sea turtles and what is endangering them and what actions you can take to help protect them.

You can also adopt a sea turtle nest! There are many organizations at every level –  global down to local communities – that take donations to protect a nest and educate their communities. I adopt one annually on Hilton Head Island through the Coastal Discovery Museum since that area is special to my family. There seems to be a program near most coastal communities in the United States, so just pick one!

Thank you for reading and supporting sea turtles, please share and subscribe! I’ll close with a video I took of a sea turtle swimming in the Newport Aquarium’s Coral Reef exhibit:

 

Additional Resources:

Video, “All About Sea Turtles,” World Wildlife Fund Wild Classroom, April 13, 2021.

Article, “How To Help Save Sea Turtles,” seeturtleweek.com.

Film, Protecting leatherback turtles – Blue Planet II: Episode 7 Preview, BBC One, December 8, 2017.