Did you know that yesterday, Wednesday 23rd May was World Turtle Day? Well, the SK children at Provo Primary School certainly did!
Already a very animal and environment conscious class, SK took the time to really think about why turtles are so special. We discussed how lucky we are to live in a place where we can go to the beach, particularly Smiths Reef and Coral Gardens, and spot turtles from the shore… or, even better, go for a snorkel and watch them feeding on the sea grass.
We enjoyed thinking about all the great things about turtles, however, we also began to think about how much danger they are in. From climate change to habitat loss and being caught in fish lines and nets, it is not surprising that 5 out of the 7 species of turtles are endangered.
Amy from DECR (Department of Coastal Resources) visited us and gave us an insight as to how our actions effect marine life. She read ‘The Tale of the Turtle and the Plastic Jellyfish’ by Sarah Nelms. The story highlighted the plight of Nerin, a sea turtle who accidentally eats a plastic bag, thinking it is a jellyfish. We followed her journey as she was rescued, nursed back to health and returned to her ocean home. She had a happy ending but lots of our ocean life don’t.
The story reminded us that we need to think about our own plastic consumption. On Earth Day of this year, Provo Primary School began its support of the DECR campaign ‘We say no to straws’ and as a result we have taken on the challenge to try not to bring plastic straws and cutlery into school. So far, we have seen a huge decline of juice boxes with straws and disposable cutlery in our packed lunches.
As World Turtle Day came to a close, we decided to make our own turtles with a special Provo Primary tag. We hope it will remind us to REDUCE the amount of plastic we buy, REUSE the plastic we already have and RECYCLE plastic into something new. We challenge YOU to do the same!
