With the global lockdown preventing humans from venturing onto beaches around the world, baby leatherback turtles are flourishing.
A record number of nests was found on one beach in Thailand — 11 nests (the largest recorded in two decades, according to The Guardian newspaper). The effect is not local but global, with beaches across the world reporting excellent results for leatherback turtles.
The results in Thailand are particularly poignant since no nests were found around Phuket in the last five years. According to Kongkiat Kittiwatanawong, the director of the Phuket Marine Biological Center:
“This is a very good sign for us because many areas for spawning have been destroyed by humans.”
Commenting to CBS 12 about the good results coming out of Florida, David Godfery, the executive director of the Sea Turtle Conservancy said:
“The chances that turtles are going to be inadvertently struck and killed will be lower. All of the reduced human presence on the beach also means that there will be less garbage and other plastics entering the marine environment. Ingestion and entanglement in plastic and marine debris also are leading causes of injury to sea turtles.”
