Coronavirus: boon and bane for sea turtles

The global pause in the last months has seen an overall resurgence in water and air quality around the world.

It's also a breath of fresh air for marine life.

This has been evident in major ecosystems like River Ganges, where, in some places, the waters have become drinkable again for the first time in two decades [1].

Horseshoe crabs have seen stabilization in its population in Delaware Bay. A precarious respite, it's important though that there's no resurgence in fishing of this dinosaur age relic since its blue blood is crucial to meeting the growing demand for the production of safe coronavirus vaccine [1].

Quieter oceans have also led to the resurgence of 2000 dolphins off the coast of Fujairah in the UAE [2], superpod of 350 sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) off Sri Lanka [3], and more sightings of endangered dugongs (Dugong dugon) off the coast of Thailand [4].

Despite all these good news, giving wildlife time and space to recover can be a double-edged sword for some animals. 

This is the case for sea turtles [5].

Photo of a green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) hatchling, Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica,  from Forbes

The logic is that beach closures would be a good thing for these creatures since this would mean less disturbance to them [5]. True enough. This has been the case in one beach in Thailand where 11 leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) nests have been found since November, the highest record in the past two decades. No such nests had been recorded in the last five years. A real boon. [6,7].

On the other side, the pandemic also meant hampering important research and conservation projects [5,8].

In the case of Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN), 300 volunteers are typically enlisted to monitor hundreds of kilometers of beaches in Texas. With the onset of COVID-19, however, only two full-time staff are left to patrol the stretches of beach once a week [5].

This poses a huge threat to the critically endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempii) since the transfer of their eggs to the hatchling facility is curtailed. Poachers are also likely to steal eggs for income. Beach closures also mean slow response to the threats they are facing [5].

Many turtle conservation groups are also hard hit financially [5,9]. Budgets are usually obtained from volunteer programs which have come to a complete halt due to travel bans [5,10]. Along with this is loss of donations from larger institutions, drying up funding reserves for conservation [5]. This is most critical for projects that have taken decades of work for sea turtle populations to recover [9].

You may click here to know more about sea turtles.

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[1] Degnarain, N. (2020, May 16). Six places where oceans, rivers and marine life have rebounded during the coronavirus pandemic.  Forbes. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/y8hdjm8p

[2] Haza, R. (2020, April 14). Watch: rare albino Risso's dolphin spotted off Fujairah coast. The National. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/ya6vvkb3

[3] Rodrigo, M. (2020, May 6). Researchers miss out on sperm whale superpod in Sri Lanka amid pandemic. Mongabay. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/y8ed449s

[4] The Star. (2020, April 27). Thai oceans see more fish and dugongs amid coronavirus closures. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/y73zjl39

[5] Owens, B. (2020, May 6). COVID-19 is not all good for wildlife. Hakai Magazine. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/ycap8owy

[6] Geggel, L. (2020, April 21). Baby leatherback sea turtles thriving due to COVID-19 beach restrictions. Live Science. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/y9jwte9d

[7] The Guardian (2020, April 20). Coronavirus lockdown boosts numbers of Thailand's rare sea turtles. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/y9z4bdcd

[8] Daffurn, E. (2020, April 27). COVID-19: Good or bad for the ocean? Scuba Diver Life. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/ya2ljun7

[9] Sea Turtle Conservancy (2020, June 1). Sea turtle conservation work in Tortuguero threatened due to COVID-19. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/yamjeg6p

[10] Sunkara, L. (2020, April 29). COVID-19 travel restrictions are further endangering sea turtles. How to help. Forbes. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/y9xk2tyj