What do turtles do for the environment?

We can learn a lot about the condition of our planet just by observing turtles. The world simply won’t be the same if all the turtles disappeared. The silent critters have been around for millions of years, playing a variety of roles. These roles range from maintaining productive coral reef ecosystems to transporting essential nutrients from the oceans to beaches and coastal dunes.

Turtles are great scavengers

They help in cleaning up by eating dead fish from their surroundings, keeping the health of the ocean balanced and in check. They do no harm, and do a lot of good.

‘Mowing’ the sea grass

Just like lawn grass needs to be trimmed, the grass in the sea bed needs to be maintained too. Green Sea Turtles along with Manatees feed on the grass and trim them. Over the past decade there has been a decline in the sea grass beds. These sea grass beds are home to several crustaceans, fish and shellfish, providing developmental and breeding grounds.

Nourishing beaches and dune vegetation

 Beaches and dune systems do not get very many nutrients during the year, so very little vegetation grows on the dunes and no vegetation grows on the beach itself. This is because sand does not hold nutrients very well. Sea turtles use beaches and the lower dunes to nest and lay their eggs. Sea turtles lay around 100 eggs in a nest and lay between 3 and 7 nests during the summer nesting season. Not all the eggs hatch and those that don’t, nourish and stabilize the dunes, preventing erosion.

What if they went extinct?

We definitely wouldn’t want that happening. As the number of turtles decline, fewer eggs are laid in the beaches, providing less nutrients. If sea turtles went extinct, dune vegetation would lose a major source of nutrient and would not be as healthy. Ultimately they would not be strong enough to maintain the dunes, resulting in increased erosion.

Habitat destruction, pollution and overconsumption are causing species to decline at a rate never before seen in history. This loss of species is eroding biodiversity, and a loss of diversity can make all life vulnerable. We’re all connected, you see? That is why it is important to protect all species.

In a world where turtles no longer live, it is highly possible that humans won’t be able to live either.

Taking small steps towards understanding the environment can help us protect each species so that we don’t lose any precious life that shapes our ecosystem. Here are a few movies on the environment that can inspire you.

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