Turtles Talk

In November, RHS Wisley’s Jonathan Newell gave an entertaining and thought provoking talk to a packed function room about his voluntary work with loggerhead turtles in Crete. We learned that the challenges facing these gentle creatures include hotels raking the sand where they breed (for tourists’ deckchairs); horse riders trampling the sea shore, just as the turtles are nearing the safety of the water; and pleasure craft damaging the turtles as they swim.

Jonathan Newell

Significantly, we learned that global warming is reducing the numbers of male hatchlings (as the eggs become either male or female, depending upon the temperature in the nest), with a knock on reduction in total numbers of eggs, hatchlings, and turtles. Jonathan gave advice on choosing reputable eco organisations for both voluntary work and holidays and is willing to advise on this (through the LiveSimply team).