Read on and see what you think. Sea turtles demonstrate the ultimate lesson of ecology — that everything is connected. 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 eggs in a nest and lay between 3 and 7 nests during the summer nesting season. Not every nest will hatch, not every egg in a nest will hatch, and not all of the hatchlings in a nest will make it out of the nest.
All the unhatched nests, eggs and trapped hatchlings are very good sources of nutrients for the dune vegetation. Even the left-over egg shells from hatched eggs provide nutrients. Dune plants use the nutrients from turtle eggs to grow and become stronger. Healthy vegetation and strong root systems hold the sand in the dunes and protect the beach from erosion. We revere their traits of persistence and serenity. One thing people can do, Lovich says, is not take wild turtles home.
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In fact, their diet in particular keeps potentially pesky creatures from crowding the environment! The Hawksbill Turtle love to chow down on very particular sea sponges, anemones, and corals using their unique bird-like beak.
If the hawksbill disappeared, fast-growing corals would choke out the slow growers—and leave lots of sea critters without a home. This is even more important today, as coral reefs grow sick and endangered by ocean pollution and rising temperatures. Another important snacker? Leatherback turtles! Their cuisine of choice is jellyfish. Understandably disappointing if you are a jellyfish But if Leatherbacks left the scene, jellyfish populations would explode.
Jellyfish eat larval fish, and every ocean ecosystem needs their fish! Each time they enjoy a meal of seagrass, the ecosystem gets a healthy haircut. Just the right amount of coral, just the right amount of jellyfish, and of course, the right amount of sea turtles! Sea Turtle extinction would cause declines in those species depending on healthy seagrass beds and coral reefs.
Not only would ocean biodiversity suffer, but so would communities on land that rely on fishing for food and industry.
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