Hello turtle blog!

I am excited to share that I am attending the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle network (WIDECAST) conference in Trinidad! I received a grant to attend and I am excited to absorb as much information as I can while I am here. I am also presenting on my experience with social media's impact on sea turtle conservation and education. 

Today is the start of the conference but not until this evening. I was asked if I wanted to join a hike today and of course I said yes! It was a beautiful hike to Turure, an adventure through the river to natural giant "steps" that are quite amazing to see. I took several photos and have shared them below.

The next few days will involve presentations, workshops and fun outings to other hikes in Trinidad. I am excited to see a small piece of this country and enjoy this sunshine.

Sea turtles love to eat jellyfish as a part of their diet. Unfortunately, plastic bags are a look alike of the jellyfish and sea turtles can mistake them for food. If a sea turtle ingests a plastic bag it can lead to sickness and possibly death. It is so important that we reduce our use by choosing to bring in our own reusable bags or by requesting paper bags.

Check out this children's story book created by a PhD student from the University of Exeter: https://issuu.com/universityofexeter/docs/turtleplasticjellyfish

It is so important to create media for all ages to educate to the future of conservation.
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Also, see below for a video created by the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST) on sea turtles and plastic bags: ​https://vimeo.com/142659710

That leatherback sea turtle swimming through the jellyfish was so beautiful but reading about those plastic bags was not. Despite the enormous size of the leatherback, the jellyfish is their primary food source. Let's reduce our use for our sea turtles!