Kyla Istvan is a 10 year old girl from Waldorf, Maryland who was vacationing in the Outer Banks, NC summer of 2016
Kyla enjoying the Outer Banks beaches
Trash and pollution are being dumped into our ocean and it’s becoming a big problem in our ecosystem. Animals are becoming sick and injured. This week in Nags Head, N.C., a green sea turtle named Fiffer-Feffer-Fee was released back into the ocean. He had a cut on his left front flipper. The organization N.E.S.T., which stands for Network for Endangered Sea Turtles, believes he was caught in netting trash or hurt by a predator.
This green sea turtle was badly injured. He was in rehabilitation for two months at the Roanoke Island Aquarium. He was just a baby and weighed 7.92 pounds, in his natural habitat he can weigh up to 400 pounds. Before these sea turtles are released back into the ocean they have to be able to catch their own food to prove that they can survive in the ocean.
People are hurting animals with pollution. These animals will eat all of the things you leave on the beach or even get trapped or injured by these items. Here are the four top reasons why sea turtles end up at the rehabilitation center or die:
- become entangled;
- experience gut impaction;
- infection; or
- boat strike.
This is how you can keep the beach clean and save the sea turtles:
- Always take your beach stuff home after your done playing.
- Remember to fill in holes and level your sandcastles before you leave the beach because the sea turtles could fall in the hole and die.
- Throw away trash the proper way. Balloons and plastic could be mistaken for food. Sea turtles may mistake plastic for a jellyfish and will eat the plastic.
- If you ever come across a sick sea turtle or injured sea turtle just call for help and a N.E.S.T. volunteer will come and help the situation.
Please help us save these sea turtles!
This is Fiffer-Feffer-Fee. This picture was taken before he was released back into the ocean on September 13, 2016 at 7:30am in Nags Head N.C.
This is the sea turtle exam at the Roanoke Island Aquarium.
This is the rehabilitation center. This is where the turtles heal and are observed.
