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