WHAT DO THE AUTHORS HAVE TO SAY
Sophia
It would be an abomination to rob the next generation of being able to view the stunning Hawksbill Sea Turtle. Not only is this animal vital to its surrounding ecosystem, it is beautiful to look at. After extensive research on the Hawksbill, it only makes sense to keep them alive and well. These turtles play a key role on land and in water. They provide nutrient cycling, they keep the food chain in check, barnacles and algae that grow on their carapace are often consumed by fish, keep coral reefs healthy, keep sea grass from overgrowing, and supply nutrients needed to sand dunes - the list goes on.
Hawksbill also control the population of jellies in the sea. If the Hawksbill were to vanish, there would be a surplus of jellyfish in places like resorts. If all of those waters are filled with jellyfish, no one will come, this would be a huge blow to places that depend on tourism like Coasta Rica or French Polynesia.
No one can deny that beautiful products are created from the shell of the turtle, like jewelry and bracelets that are quite famous in Asia and smuggled into the U.S. These bracelets are a huge part of the economy, and may even provide food for some families. But at what cost? The slaughter of an innocent animal? We must stop thinking of the environment as an object of exploitation. We cannot keep taking and taking and not giving back; or continue not to think about what the world will be like if we continue on this path. In my book, and to most ethical people, that is not worth the pretty bracelet. Especially when it is just as easy (not necessarily better) to just purchase a fake one off the internet.
If you are like me, the idea of such a world is harsh and scary, without the turtles we would lose the other animals that depended on the turtles to live as well. We can’t afford to lose even one more turtle without serious repercussions. If we say goodbye to turtles this year, we say goodbye to coral reefs in the next 5, jellies in the next 10. With smaller and smaller amounts of Hawksbill making it every year, it’s a wonder why more work hasn’t been done to protect these guys.
If you disagree, try thinking of an object, maybe a clock, or a phone, and taking a piece out. Then try putting it back together and seeing if it still works. This is what it would be like to remove Hawksbill from the face of the earth, it would just never work right again.
"I said that the oceans were sick but they're not going to die. There is no death possible in the oceans — there will always be life — but they're getting sicker every year."
— Jacques Yves Cousteau, Oceanographer
Holly
The Hawksbill Sea Turtle is an animal worth saving. Not only are these beautiful animals, enjoyable for their aesthetic value, they also hold a valuable spot in our ocean’s ecosystem. The Hawksbill keep our coral reefs healthy, and full of biodiversity. While humans are harvesting these animals for their shells, meat, and eggs, it is also our job to protect these animals. These turtles are found throughout the waters of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans.
These turtles are fun to look at and snorkel with so it makes urging for their conservation easier. Coral reefs provide a beautiful part of nature that is diverse and not available everywhere on Earth. The Hawksbill are a necessary part of that ecosystem. Their main food source is sponges, which are made up of tiny crystals. Very few animals can digest these and if the Hawksbill was extinct, the invasive sponges would destroy the coral reefs. Thereby destroying ocean biodiversity.
But what if they did not live among coral reefs? We still would need to conserve these animals because of the benefits they provide to the biodiversity of the Earth. Economists are working at putting a “price tag” on biodiversity. They are trying to determine the economic benefits of having diverse species on Earth and their current estimates are around 33 trillion dollars a year. The entire global economy produces around 18 trillion dollars a year. Not only do the Hawksbills have environmental and aesthetic value, they also have tremendous economic value.
I believe that humans have no right to harm any animal or their environment. Most animals serve a purpose and when we harm them, we harm ourselves. Every action we take in dismantling an ecosystem or biome, whether intentionally or unintentionally, results in catastrophic harm to millions of other species, including ourselves. The human race cannot survive without the billions and billions of species doing their jobs in keeping our ecosystems healthy and clean. So even if the Hawksbill served no point in our ocean, do we really have the right to say that this animal can no longer live on this planet? No, we do not have that right and luckily the Hawksbill play many important roles in keeping our Earth functional, diverse, and healthy.
I find it hard to comprehend all the terrible things we are doing to the Hawksbills environment, from pollution and drilling to artificial lighting and climate change. How can we not give these magnificent turtles a helping fin in restoring balance to their habitat?
Aaron
With only about 23,000 nesting female hawksbills returning each year, hawksbill population is in extreme decline. If the human population, the main cause of sea turtle endangerment, doesn’t react soon to the horrors we have been causing this beautiful creature of the sea will disappear forever. The 100 million year legacy, which is their existence and evolution, will come to a close. This is the hawksbills home; who are we to take their land, destroy their habitat, and drive them to extinction? In my opinion, we can not let hawksbills become extinct.
The cost of preserving an entire species seems expensive. However, it is important to realize humans do not live sustainably for their own species, so it may seem difficult to imagine working to live sustainably for another. Yet this is completely possible, if humans chose to realize we do need to live sustainably in order to preserve our own species, our fellow species with whom we share the planet, and the planet in which we all thrive on, without which we would not have even come to exist. When you compare it to that, protecting a few beaches a few times per year, protecting the oceans from toxic pollution, protecting hawksbills from poachers, and regulating the fishing industry to change their style of fishing in order to be more sustainable doesn’t sound too rough. But what will be much more difficult, is to get people behind it.
As the reader you may be thinking, what does the hawksbill do for me? Why should I put in my energy to help a sea turtle? The answer is simple; as an example for future generations that we can live sustainably in harmony with the earth and with other species. The hawksbill sea turtle is a dazzling, majestic beast of the seas. A creature with such beauty is the perfect symbol of sustainability and protection for the earth, its environments, and its species. The hawksbill will set an example for future generations that we value what we have and we can live sustainably to protect our children and future.
If the human race doesn’t soon change how we chose to treat the
earth and our fellow species, how then, when the time comes that
our fate must be decided, will we be able to save ourselves? Well
that time is now. We must protect hawksbill sea turtles from
extinction and we must protect ourselves and the earth as well.
We must be less selfish in taking, and more gracious in receiving.
If you chose to make the right decision, you’ll fight with us in order
to protect our species. You’ll fight with us in order to save the earth.
Turtles in general are a huge part of the aesthetic of oceans as well, without turtles, the idea of the ocean, with the fish and coral and sharks and jellies will be smaller. In baby rooms, parents can’t paint turtles on the wall, in Disney movies - no more turtles like Crush from finding Nemo … no more turtles.
Though the Hawksbill are not Keystone species, they are still key to their environment. They connect many different aspects of marine and beach environments. Without them, both would crumble.
Some individuals may argue that species have become extinct even without humans influencing their extinctions. So why is it our responsibility to work toward conservation? The current rate of extinction, especially for the Hawksbill is mainly because of human interference. Beach destruction, commercial fishing, climate change, marine debris, and the shell trade are all examples of humans interrupting the life cycle of this species. These are activities that governments and individuals can work towards curtailing. The rate of extinction has grown exponentially and humans are the reason.
