Turtle

He blinked at the brightness (of the shimmery sun) and inside his head he heard strange words, ‘To the sea – to the sea.’

Lynley Dodd

With their gorgeous coloured shells, and their unusual bird-like beak, the Hawksbill Turtle has a really important part in sustaining their coral reef homes. Hawksbill’s appetite for algae, and almost exclusive diet of sea sponge, means that sponges don’t overgrow and suffocate reefs.

It’s worth having a read around some of the work WWF – Australia: Wildlife & Environmental Conservation Organisation is running, such as leading on-ground conservation work in northern Great Barrier Reef to restore hawksbill turtle populations, along with trying to warn people off the re-emerged and still very illegal tortoiseshell trade.

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