How to Help Save Sea Turtles While Visiting the Florida Keys

Five species of sea turtles can be found in Florida waters: hawksbills, greens, loggerheads, Kemps-Ridleys, and letherbacks. None boasts a healthy population with all but the loggerhead considered an endangered species. The loggerhead, however, is considered a threatened species. There are some simple steps everyone can take to help these beautiful, graceful reptiles.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Compassion

1. Discard cigarette butts into a proper receptacle. Do not toss them into the water. When a sea turtle sees a cigarette butt floating in the water it may mistake it for a shrimp and gobble it down. These are non-digestible and do not pass through the turtle's digestive system which can over time cause the turtle to starve to death.

2. Do not let plastic bags of any size get away from you and blow into the water. When plastic bags float in the water they look like jellyfish to turtles and turtles love to eat jellyfish. Ingested bags can trap air bubbles in the turtle's stomach, making it unable to dive in search of food.

3. Keep track of you monofilament! Monofilament, or fishing line, is the scourge of the sea and can become entangled around the limbs of turtles. This can lead to the death and eventual amputation of the limb.

Tips & Warnings

• Visit The Turtle Hospital in Marathon, a one-of-a-kind facility that treats and rehabilitates sea turtles. Several guided tours are offered each day. Over 750 turtles have been treated and released since 1986.