More about the Pawikan less about the PCC

WELCOME BACK AGAIN WORLD!!! This is now P.E.E.L.'s third post wherein we will be talking more about the Pawikan (marine turtle)...

Have you ever wondered why the Pawikan was important? Why do we try so hard to conserve these species? Well, like any other animal, the Pawikan is important because it plays a major role in the ecosystem. One of its primary roles is maintaining a certain length for sea grass that provide breeding and developmental grounds for fish, shellfish, and crustaceans.

However, the Pawikan is being put in danger by global warming. Global warming, as we know, is the rise in the Earth's temperature. How does this affect them? Together with the rise of temperature is the rise of sea level, thus more beaches disappear. Also, we learned at the PCC that the temperature of their nest will affect whether the Pawikans will become male or female. Higher temperatures indicate that they will become female, while lower temperatures indicate that they will become male. Therefore, more females compared to males are produced; imposing a threat to genetic diversity.

Global warming is not the only danger Pawikans face; hunting, pollution, and many other human activities can also harm these creatures.

Now that you learned all of that, do you want to know some ways you can preserve these beautiful species? Here is a list of how you and I can help:

1. Because Pawikans are affected by global warming. Lessen the use of your cars, and don't burn your trash. This will decrease smoke in the atmosphere, and will effectively stop the increase in the sea level.

2. Reduce, reuse, and recycle your plastic or non-biodegradable items. The trash that ends up in the sea may harm them, they may eat this or get tangled in it, causing injury or even death. Moreover, when you go to the beach and you see trash, we encourage you to clean this up. This is actually what we did during our field trip to the CCP.

3. DO NOT eat Pawikan eggs or buy products made from their parts. This will encourage more people to kill them to earn a living.

4. Reduce the amount of artificial light on the beach. Hatchlings use the moon to find their way to the water at night, and if they see other lights like a flashlight or a campfire, this will confuse them and cause them to get attracted to these lights. Also this will discourage female turtles who are going to nest to leave.

Now stop sitting around and take action to conserve the Pawikans!!!

That is all for this blog and as always... 'Til the next blog!!!

Sources:

            http://www.defenders.org/sites/default/files/publications/five-things-             you-can-do-to-save-sea-turtles.pdf

            http://www.conserveturtles.org/seaturtleinformation.php?                             page=whycareaboutseaturtles

The Pawikan Conservation Center

Hello again, world!!! Welcome back to P.E.E.L. This is now our second blog and we are going to share our experiences at a recent field trip to the Pawikan (sea turtle) Conservation Center (PCC).

First and foremost, an introduction: Why did we have this field trip and why did we join? We had this field trip because it has become a tradition for the TLT sixth graders. Our Science teacher, who conducts the field trip, also comes with us. We joined this field trip because this is a once in a lifetime experience, and we wanted to spend time with each other. Moreover, we joined this field trip because it is the last one before we graduate.

Before the field trip, we expected to discover new things and have loads of fun while doing so. A day before the actual field trip, we felt so excited that some of us kept awake all night wondering what would happen during the field trip.

At the PCC, we expected to learn about the different types of sea turtles, why they are decreasing so fast, how PCC helps in their conservation, and how we, personally, could help as well.

The Pawikan Conservation Center is a small place in Bataan, Philippines, composed of a few staff members who aim to increase the number of sea turtles in the seas and oceans. One of the ways they seek to do this is by taking care of the eggs until they are ready for hatching and releasing into the sea.

At the end of the day, our expectations were not only met but even exceeded. We learned about the local species of sea turtles, and some fun facts about each of the species.

Let me now introduce you to the species of sea turtle that we met at PCC:

Common Name: Olive Ridley Sea Turtle

Scientific Name: Lepidochelys olivacea

Taxonomic Classification: 
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Family: Cheloniidae
Genus: Lepidochelys
Species: L. olivacea

Here's a picture of the Olive Ridley:

                                               
                                                                  (Olive Ridley)

The Olive Ridley has an interesting diet. It is an omnivore, but during the earlier stages of its life it's primarily carnivorous. As it grows older, the Olive Ridley begins to consume more plants, and so becomes more herbivorous. Some of the things it eats are jellyfish, tunicates, sea urchins, bryozoans, bivalves, snails, shrimp, crabs, rock lobsters, and sipunculid worms. On the other hand, its predators include raccoons, coyotes, ghost crabs, and opossums.

The reason we chose to tell you about this animal is that it is the smallest of all the sea turtles, and it is the species we met at the PCC. In fact, we didn't just meet the Olive Ridley, we even had the opportunity to help release forty hatchlings into the sea!

Our experience at PCC was nothing short of a blast. We had a lot of fun, but also became much more aware of these beautiful creatures in need of our help. We hope that through this post you, too, have been encouraged to do what you can to help protect the Pawikan.

That's all for now! 'Til the next post!




Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_ridley_sea_turtle

All about P.E.E.L.

Hello world we are P.E.E.L. which stands for the First letters of our names, but for protection purposes won't say it. For our first blog we will give an introduction of who we are...

Here's our introductions... So far this is only an introduction of Death Scourge, the Ace of Spades, and Orion Constellation but part two will include one other member...

1. I, Death Scourge, am a member and designer of this blog, P.E.E.L . People may think of me as a harmless “kitten” but “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover”, they say. Don’t get me annoyed, you’ll end up in a bunch of scratches and bites; you may not want to touch me ever again but everything has a positive side. I am a book cat; I love reading books especially “Warriors”, I play outside a lot, think of others when they are down, (gif source)never told a secret and I am approachable. When I first heard about the blog I didn't want to (gif source)do it, sounded really boring to me, but I thought of what speechless things we could put in it, especially, the designs.
2. I the Ace of Spades also a member and designer of P.E.E.L. am a very sporty guy who LOVES to play: Basketball, Soccer, Archery, Biking, and Table Tennis above all. I also like Math, Science, and creating things out of scrap such as a pen crossbow, and a smoke bomb. But one thing I really enjoy doing is... CARDS!!! obviously stated by my name "the Ace of Spades". I love playing card games (gif source)learning new card tricks and learning more about cards.
3. I am Orion Constellation, another member and designer of this blog, P.E.E.L. People call me "short, but terrible". I am short, but I can do things no one else can do. I can(gif source)run faster than other people in basketball, I can dodge a ball in dodgeball, and I can hide inside a box during Hide n' Seek. I love playing Basketball, playing Minecraft, and Hide n' Seek ;). 
4. One of our group member's was not able to contact us vice versa. We apologize for any inconvenience.

The Purpose we made this blog was to creatively express what is happening in our lives and to tell a story of a group of 4 students currently going through the last quarter of the sixth grade. We hope that you would enjoy our future blogs... till the next blog!!!