23Sep2009 Update : 48 Hawksbill Turtle hatchlings were released from the Kusu Pool into the sea by ACRES. Quick and effective action at work!
Kusu Island Green Turtle hatchlings from BeachBum on Vimeo.
Endangered turtle hatchlings deserve better care.
21Sep2009 : Visited Kusu Island and was surprised to see tiny turtle hatchlings in the big pool. (Initially thought they were Green Turtles but was later informed that they were Hawksbills instead.) The joy was shortlived as it seemed that the hatchlings were hungry...very hungry. There was no vegetative matter which they could eat and they were trying to bite into dead leaves and twigs and even plastic material as the pool was littered with plastic-bag like items. One of the hatchlings bit into another already dead hatchling. One's imagination could only run wild as to what the cause of death was.
JK took a shot of one hatchling biting a piece of blue plastic rope. Plastic is non-biodegradable and non-digestible. Turtles (and birds alike) can die from ingesting plastic material as the plastic material gets stuck in their digestive tract.
Have a look here to see how fatal plastics can be for turtles :
Rise Above Plastic: Plastic Kills Turtles from Wallace J. Nichols on Vimeo
Blogposts by others who observed the hatchings :-
http://psychedelic-nature.blogspot.com/2009/09/they-are-cute-but-they-need-better-home.html
http://wildshores.blogspot.com/2009/09/clamless-on-kusu.html
some links for reference :-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_turtle
