Protect Sea Turtle Eggs From Destructive Beach Grooming

Target: Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Minister for the Environment and Energy for Italy

Goal: Protect loggerhead sea turtle nesting habitats from excessive sand grooming.

The unofficial start of summer marks the time when tourists flock to beaches for fun in the sun. Too often, thoughtless tourists leave destruction in their wake, whether it be from littering, from trampling on off-limits spaces, or from unknowingly endangering area wildlife. The latter problem is particularly pronounced in a top tourist destination on the planet: the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

Sand groomers are a frequent site during vacation-intensive months. The large tractor-like vehicles smooth out and remove “debris” from the sandy surface in a bid to make beaches more attractive to tourists. The problem: some of the material deemed “debris” by humans is actually very sensitive nesting grounds for loggerhead sea turtles. While these large turtles (weighing up to half a ton) spend most of their lives at sea, females make brief but consequential journeys ashore to lay up to four egg clutches during their lifetimes.

Young hatchlings already have the odds stacked against them, as many are lost to predators when they make their desperate trek to the sea after they hatch. Female turtles try to bury the clutches in the sand near the high shoreline so the eggs – and the tiny beings growing inside them – have the best shot at survival. Sand groomers have posed an increasing danger to these vulnerable habitats for a vulnerable species, as their usage can uproot or even outright destroy the eggs.

Conservationists have successfully secured a ban on beach grooming vehicles in Greece, but in Italy human protectors are forced to confront the crisis on a case-by-case basis. Sign the petition below to demand Italian leaders take more decisive steps to safeguard this iconic species from a growing threat.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Minister Pichetto Fratin,

Sand groomers may make beaches more attractive, but they also harm the habitats and the irreplaceable species that help the Mediterranean drive one-third of the world’s tourism. Loggerhead sea turtles, who can live for decades unimpeded, are being decimated before they even take to the seas because their nesting grounds are summarily destroyed by these vehicles. This preventable consequence is pushing an already-vulnerable species ever closer to endangered status.

Certain regions of Italy have tried to mitigate these effects, but enforcement of guidelines is poor. Follow in the footsteps of Greece and enact stronger restrictions – or preferably outright bans – on reckless usage of destructive sand groomers.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo Credit: Strobilomyces