Due to the measures taken to stop the expansion of the pandemic caused by the new coronavirus, during these weeks the beaches around the world are unusually empty. Or, rather, empty of human presence, because in them life continues and, collaterally, many species of animals and plants have benefited from the absence of man.
A few days ago, the city council of Paulista, in Brazil, announced that on March 22, 97 hawksbill turtles ( Eretmochelys imbricata ) had been born on one of its beaches. The hawksbill turtle is a species classified by the International Union of Nature as “critically endangered”. Some of their biggest threats are unsustainable fishing practices and illegal hunting to trade in their shell, which is used to make handicrafts.
Turtles are animals that are very sensitive to human presence, and most of them need quiet and well-preserved beaches to nest, something increasingly difficult to find on our planet. According to WWF, only one in a thousand tortoises that hatch from the egg reaches adulthood.
Turtles reconquer their spaces
Another of these unusual images comes from the east coast of India, where thousands of olive turtles ( Lepidochelys olivácea ) have been sighted these days that managed to reach the beaches to nest and lay their eggs in a much safer way than usual. Under normal conditions, fishing and tourism activities, as well as the theft of eggs, make it extremely difficult for these animals to reproduce.
The birth of thousands of turtles on the beach is a unique and enormously attractive event that attracts crowds of tourists on the coasts of the world and that is a nuisance for the animals. This spring, the isolation and quarantine measures adopted in almost all countries will give a break to these species whose survival is seriously threatened.
