Close your eyes, just for a second, and imagine that you wake up abruptly, you are in complete darkness, and buried in the sand 3 meters deep. How desperate would you be?
With your fragile hands, you start to struggle out and make your way through the dense sand. Hurry you can quickly suffocate!
Then, if you find the way to get out, you feel lost, you have no idea where you are, despair leads you to run towards the water.
Suddenly you are chased by hungry creatures trying to eat you, giant crabs, big beak birds that attack from all directions.
You look around and see many others that are swallowed alive, even though you run with all your strength, time seems eternal and you are still far away from your salvation.
The wet sand announces that you are close, when you finally reach the water, giant waves like a tsunami, take you in their spiral and delay your arrival in the ocean, again and again.
Will you find the security you are looking for? There are sure to be more dangers to face.
Would you keep fighting knowing that your chance of survival is only 1%?
Now, you can open your eyes, do you think this is the script for a low-budget horror movie? It really is the first minutes of a sea turtle’s life.
Panama and sea turtles conservation
Panama has very good laws that seek to protect these precious creatures, however, the lack of vigilance and the certainty of punishment allows many to dare to violate these laws.
The good news is that there are organizations such as Panatortugas, Marviva, Albatros Media Foundation, Agua y Tierra Foundation, and many more that help in its conservation, educate the people of the communities to empower themselves and be stakeholders on this tough duty.
Communities such as Mata Oscura and Malena in Mariato in Veraguas, within the Gulf of Montijo, have successfully combined the protection of sea turtles with ecotourism, promoting local governance, creating a sense of pride and bringing wealth to the community, and making this activity sustainable.
We invite you to visit the EcoRuta Tortuga and “Escape to the Peacefulness”.
Sea turtles are ancient mariners
There are some of the oldest creatures on the planet. Just imagine they shared the planet with dinosaurs, even surviving when they became extinct 65 million years ago.
Despite being a species that has survived more than 120 million years, today it is endangered, mostly because of us, humans been.
Pollution by plastics, chemicals, global warming, marine traffic, industrial fishing bycatch, illegal harvesting, egg trafficking, coastal development, illegal sand mining, and the indifference of many people are some of the biggest threats.
What do you know about one of the world’s most endangered species?
Check these out tremendous turtle facts to learn something new