NOAA Games arrow Quest to Nest arrow What You Can Do to Help

What YOU Can Do to Help

smiling whelk...no matter where you live, you can help.


 Protect

Protect turtles by not littering and by recycling.  Turtles may mistake a floating plastic bag for a jellyfish.  This can be deadly.

Learn

Learn all you can about sea turtles by reading about them and by visiting aquariums and museums.

Learn more about Loggerhead turtles:
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/turtles/loggerhead.htm
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/education/kids_times_turtle_loggerhead.pdf

Learn more about other sea turtles http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/turtles/

Learn about marine debris and what you can do to prevent it:
http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/outreach/welcome.html

Support

Support local and national conservation efforts to protect sea turtles.

Never buy anything made from sea turtles.  It harms sea turtles is against the law.

Get involved in Coral Reef Conservation:
http://coralreef.noaa.gov/getinvolved/whatyoucando/welcome.html

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If you visit a sea turtle nesting area or live near one:

1. Remove all recreational equipment such as chairs or umbrellas from the beach at night to allow female sea turtles to dig nests and hatchlings to return to the ocean.

2. Keep lights out at night on sea turtle nesting beaches and support programs to darken coastlines.  Do not build campfires on nesting beaches.  Never use flash photography on nesting beaches.  Turn off lights and close blinds or curtains in houses or hotels along nesting beaches.

3. Look out for sea turtles while boating.

4. Keep pets away from nesting beaches to help protect eggs and hatchlings.

5. Leave turtle nests alone if you see them on the beach.

6. If you see a turtle on the beach at night, stay away and keep quiet.

7. Protect sand dunes.  A healthy dune system is important for suitable sea turtle nesting habitat.

8. On land or water, enjoy sea turtles from a distance so we can enjoy them forever!

9. Throw away all of your trash properly or recycle.

10. Leave tracks left by sea turtles undisturbed. They are needed by biologists to locate nests.

11. Report a stranded sea turtle (pdf) http://www.sefsc.noaa.gov/PDFdocs/STSSN_State_Coordinators.pdf

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POSTERS

Marine debris is everyone's problem poster (pdf, 256KB)
Created by the NOAA Marine Debris Program.

Marine debris impacts poster (pdf, 745KB)
Created by the NOAA Marine Debris Program and University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program in partnership with the NOAA Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. This poster highlights the impacts of marine debris, particularly entanglement and ingestion in marine species such as the humpback whale, green sea turtle, and Hawaiian monk seal.

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