In the village of Waisilip, as we were coming back from a field trip with the students, we passed a sea turtle, which, upon closer inspection I found to be alive.
He was helplessly on his back.... barely breathing.
Ironically only a few hours previously we adjusted the schedule so that we would be studying about sea turtles and their vulnerability to extinction the following day. Even so, not only the students, but also the educators, just walked right by!?
Have they not been toting the conservation line for two years now???
Anyway, I couldn't ignore it, and directly asked if we could find the 'owner' to see how we could rescue this turtle before he became sausages (as we know would happen)... my thought being that even if we had to buy the turtle in order to release it, we would do just that...
After speaking with the fisherman who had captured the turtle, he agreed to release it. We explained that we were there to teach the students about sea turtles and conserving nature, and did he know that Raja Ampat is one of the few places that sea turtles still seem to be in abundance (and even then, the anecdotes tell the tell of drastic population declines)... that they are protected internationally because they are in danger of extinction. We got him to agree that it would be a great lesson for them to see the turtle released.... and he seemed understanding... and we didn't even have to offer anything. Whether from embarrassment, or comprehension, at least the turtle avoided being on the menu that day!
Unfortunately, we know that every year hundreds of his cousins aren't so lucky...
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