Green sea turtle conservation: How one species’ recovery gives hope amid a sea of decline

1
00:00:00,049 --> 00:00:03,259
Not every story about endangered
species ends in tragedy.

2
00:00:03,319 --> 00:00:07,849
The green sea turtle once on the brink
of collapse has rebounded thanks to

3
00:00:07,849 --> 00:00:11,839
decades of protection and conservation,
but while the turtle shows us what's

4
00:00:11,839 --> 00:00:16,249
possible, the latest IUCN red list
update warns that Arctic seals and

5
00:00:16,249 --> 00:00:19,849
more than half of the world's birds
are sliding deeper into trouble.

6
00:00:19,849 --> 00:00:23,149
The question is, will we let our
most vulnerable species fade away?

7
00:00:23,303 --> 00:00:26,873
Or will we choose to follow the
turtle's example of recovery?

8
00:00:27,126 --> 00:00:28,866
That's what we're gonna talk
about in today's episode of the

9
00:00:28,866 --> 00:00:30,186
How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.

10
00:00:30,606 --> 00:00:31,506
Let's start the show.

11
00:00:34,896 --> 00:00:35,346
Hey everybody.

12
00:00:35,346 --> 00:00:38,346
Welcome back to another exciting episode
of the How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.

13
00:00:38,346 --> 00:00:40,656
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin, and
this is the podcast where you find

14
00:00:40,656 --> 00:00:43,446
out what's happening with the ocean,
how you can speak up for the ocean,

15
00:00:43,506 --> 00:00:46,536
and what you can do to live for
a better ocean by taking action.

16
00:00:46,806 --> 00:00:48,816
And on today's episode, we're
gonna be talking about species

17
00:00:49,236 --> 00:00:51,426
that were endangered, just
like the green sea turtle.

18
00:00:51,426 --> 00:00:55,299
But first I wanna talk about something
that I remember every time I talk about

19
00:00:55,299 --> 00:01:00,189
sea turtles, and that's the time where
my daughter, who is now 16 years old, I

20
00:01:00,189 --> 00:01:03,489
can't even believe that, but when she was
nine months old, 10 months old, we went

21
00:01:03,489 --> 00:01:07,449
to Florida as a family and you know, she's
younger so she was in a crib beside we

22
00:01:07,449 --> 00:01:09,519
go to a hotel and was in all in one room.

23
00:01:09,519 --> 00:01:12,129
So my older daughter was
sleeping, she was about two.

24
00:01:12,129 --> 00:01:14,619
My wife was sleeping and my
youngest daughter got up.

25
00:01:14,664 --> 00:01:15,114
Right.

26
00:01:15,114 --> 00:01:16,914
So she was, you know, 10 months old.

27
00:01:17,004 --> 00:01:19,374
She gets up, it's around
six o'clock in the morning.

28
00:01:19,374 --> 00:01:20,184
It's a little early.

29
00:01:20,184 --> 00:01:22,014
I want my wife and my
other daughter to sleep.

30
00:01:22,014 --> 00:01:23,874
So I take her down and I go downstairs.

31
00:01:23,874 --> 00:01:24,444
I get her ready.

32
00:01:24,444 --> 00:01:27,894
We go downstairs, we go to the beach,
and we watch the sunrise together.

33
00:01:27,894 --> 00:01:31,434
A nice little moment between my
daughter and I looking at nature.

34
00:01:31,434 --> 00:01:32,604
She's having a great time.

35
00:01:32,634 --> 00:01:35,035
We're running around on the
beach before the beach sand gets

36
00:01:35,035 --> 00:01:36,715
too hot, and we just sit there.

37
00:01:36,775 --> 00:01:40,045
I put her on my lap and we watch
the sunrise as we see the sunrise,

38
00:01:40,045 --> 00:01:42,235
what was revealed in
front of us was unreal.

39
00:01:42,235 --> 00:01:46,915
It was this mound of sand and I knew
exactly what it was when I first saw it.

40
00:01:46,915 --> 00:01:48,595
I started to tell Jade,
my youngest daughter.

41
00:01:48,595 --> 00:01:50,125
I was like, Hey, look at this mound.

42
00:01:50,125 --> 00:01:52,795
And she thought it was like a little
sandcastle, but I'm like, no, it's

43
00:01:52,795 --> 00:01:54,835
not a sandcastle, it's this mound.

44
00:01:54,835 --> 00:01:55,705
It's a sea turtles.

45
00:01:55,705 --> 00:01:58,075
There are sea turtle eggs
underneath this mound.

46
00:01:58,075 --> 00:02:00,455
And when I looked up and we got
up and we didn't go near it.

47
00:02:00,455 --> 00:02:02,428
We stayed our distance 'cause
you're not supposed to go near a

48
00:02:02,428 --> 00:02:03,898
mound like that, a sea turtle nest.

49
00:02:04,018 --> 00:02:06,478
But we looked at the
tracks going up and down.

50
00:02:06,478 --> 00:02:08,738
Like up to the mount and
then back down to the ocean.

51
00:02:08,738 --> 00:02:09,848
It was like perfect unison.

52
00:02:09,848 --> 00:02:10,658
It was like straight line.

53
00:02:10,658 --> 00:02:13,218
It was actually quite beautiful
as we see the sunrise.

54
00:02:13,368 --> 00:02:16,788
So I go upstairs after the sunrise and
we actually, we go to the lobby first.

55
00:02:16,788 --> 00:02:19,608
We tell 'em that there's a sea turtle
nest where that's right there and

56
00:02:19,608 --> 00:02:20,988
that we got to share that opportunity.

57
00:02:20,988 --> 00:02:23,028
And they called Fish and
Wildlife, US Fish and Wildlife.

58
00:02:23,058 --> 00:02:23,718
This is in Florida.

59
00:02:23,718 --> 00:02:26,298
And they kind of marked it off
'cause it was a public beach and they

60
00:02:26,298 --> 00:02:27,498
didn't want anybody to step on it.

61
00:02:27,498 --> 00:02:28,938
They didn't anybody, anybody to ruin it.

62
00:02:29,118 --> 00:02:32,478
So I tell my oldest daughter
who's like now going to university

63
00:02:32,478 --> 00:02:33,588
in her first year university

64
00:02:33,588 --> 00:02:36,438
for wildlife and conservation,
which is awesome , wildlife

65
00:02:36,438 --> 00:02:37,848
biology and conservation program.

66
00:02:37,848 --> 00:02:41,448
She comes down and I tell her what
I saw and we show her what we saw.

67
00:02:41,538 --> 00:02:44,868
And so she's going around like
there's a barricade around the mount

68
00:02:44,868 --> 00:02:47,778
and she's going around the mount
picking up any type of garbage.

69
00:02:47,808 --> 00:02:49,248
And she's like, dad, can
we pick this up deck?

70
00:02:49,248 --> 00:02:49,908
Can we pick this up?

71
00:02:49,908 --> 00:02:50,508
Can we pick this up?

72
00:02:50,508 --> 00:02:51,258
So we're picking it up.

73
00:02:51,258 --> 00:02:52,098
We're putting it in the garbage.

74
00:02:52,098 --> 00:02:54,138
I wouldn't let my daughter touch
the garbage because, you know.

75
00:02:54,203 --> 00:02:55,973
2-year-old dirty hands,
we don't want that.

76
00:02:55,973 --> 00:02:59,766
But anyway, so we shared that experience,
taking care of these sea turtles she

77
00:02:59,766 --> 00:03:02,856
was asking questions and both of them,
they were really, really interested in.

78
00:03:02,856 --> 00:03:05,766
Now, of course, my 10 month old, she
probably kind of forgot about it, but

79
00:03:05,766 --> 00:03:08,676
we got to share that experience and
that was like this personal thing.

80
00:03:08,759 --> 00:03:10,693
This was, you know, almost 16 years ago.

81
00:03:10,793 --> 00:03:13,948
At that moment where these sea turtles.

82
00:03:14,068 --> 00:03:16,228
You know, I didn't know what species
it was, but these sea turtles, like

83
00:03:16,228 --> 00:03:17,758
green sea turtles come on that beach.

84
00:03:17,861 --> 00:03:20,171
And you start to think they
may not be here one day.

85
00:03:20,616 --> 00:03:24,006
They're endangered of going extinct,
like all seven species at one point.

86
00:03:24,006 --> 00:03:25,236
Were endangered of going extinct.

87
00:03:25,386 --> 00:03:28,299
There are a lot of people who
are doing some phenomenal work.

88
00:03:28,399 --> 00:03:31,669
In conservation and research and
tagging to find out where these turtles

89
00:03:31,669 --> 00:03:34,969
go, making sure they're protected
at every point in their journey.

90
00:03:35,073 --> 00:03:38,493
There are a lot of laws to protect
these sea turtles, and it was just

91
00:03:38,493 --> 00:03:42,988
wonderful to see this experience that
we've had and now, like 16 years later

92
00:03:42,988 --> 00:03:46,258
to see that the populations of one
of the species has rebounded and now

93
00:03:46,258 --> 00:03:49,758
they're getting delisted as endangered
and going to least vulnerable, which

94
00:03:49,758 --> 00:03:51,455
is great, which is great news.

95
00:03:51,485 --> 00:03:53,465
Now of course it comes with some caveats.

96
00:03:53,558 --> 00:03:56,738
When you start to de-list in
specific areas like countries.

97
00:03:56,738 --> 00:03:59,228
I remember telling like a species
at risk biologist when I worked

98
00:03:59,228 --> 00:04:00,455
for the government in Canada.

99
00:04:00,568 --> 00:04:01,348
They were saying, Hey.

100
00:04:01,348 --> 00:04:01,558
Yeah.

101
00:04:01,665 --> 00:04:04,965
One thing you have to be careful when
you delist a species is that there

102
00:04:04,965 --> 00:04:09,075
are certain laws or certain reports
and monitoring that also go with that.

103
00:04:09,075 --> 00:04:12,345
So, you know, when you're an endangered
species on the species at risk list or

104
00:04:12,345 --> 00:04:15,795
an endangered species list in a specific
country, there are specific protections

105
00:04:15,795 --> 00:04:18,375
that go with it, but there's also things
that you have to do to report on it.

106
00:04:18,375 --> 00:04:20,115
You have to evaluate the population.

107
00:04:20,115 --> 00:04:22,035
You have to come up with recovery plans.

108
00:04:22,035 --> 00:04:24,765
You have to monitor the species,
you have to do all these things.

109
00:04:24,765 --> 00:04:28,055
There's extra money that goes into doing
the research to doing projects and to make

110
00:04:28,055 --> 00:04:31,535
sure that it's conserved and make sure
the area around it is protected as long

111
00:04:31,535 --> 00:04:33,028
as the governments don't strip that away.

112
00:04:33,138 --> 00:04:34,811
And we saw that with the manatees, right?

113
00:04:34,811 --> 00:04:39,011
The manatees back in the 1950s, 1960s,
went down to about 600 manatees in

114
00:04:39,011 --> 00:04:43,168
Florida, and then they rebounded over
like three or four decades because there

115
00:04:43,168 --> 00:04:46,821
were all these, you know, recovery plans
and monitoring plans, and they went up

116
00:04:46,821 --> 00:04:49,611
to about just over 6,000 individuals.

117
00:04:49,731 --> 00:04:51,201
Well now they got delisted.

118
00:04:51,201 --> 00:04:54,531
There's less monitoring plans and
less focus on their protection.

119
00:04:54,651 --> 00:04:58,041
And the water quality has kind
of gone to hell in Florida.

120
00:04:58,041 --> 00:04:58,956
And so we're seeing less.

121
00:04:59,296 --> 00:05:00,106
Seagrasses.

122
00:05:00,106 --> 00:05:01,396
And what do these manes eat?

123
00:05:01,396 --> 00:05:03,796
They eat seagrasses, and so we're
starting to see less manes, a lot

124
00:05:03,796 --> 00:05:07,086
of die offs, a lot of bad water
quality that had like acute die offs.

125
00:05:07,086 --> 00:05:10,836
So like right away they died off for
a number of different individuals, not

126
00:05:10,836 --> 00:05:13,776
only manes, but dolphins and sharks
and fish and all that kind of stuff.

127
00:05:13,776 --> 00:05:16,583
So we have some problems with the
manes now, and it's probably gonna

128
00:05:16,583 --> 00:05:19,283
have to go back on the list, but
once you take 'em off the list, it's

129
00:05:19,283 --> 00:05:20,598
really hard to put back on the list.

130
00:05:20,668 --> 00:05:26,038
so scientists and managers make
sure that when a species is listed

131
00:05:26,158 --> 00:05:28,978
as endangered, it's very difficult
to take them off because it's

132
00:05:28,978 --> 00:05:30,208
very difficult to put 'em back on.

133
00:05:30,208 --> 00:05:32,188
So they make sure that
if they're delisted.

134
00:05:32,453 --> 00:05:32,903
It's fine.

135
00:05:32,903 --> 00:05:35,513
In the case of the manes, that
was more of a political thing that

136
00:05:35,513 --> 00:05:38,186
happened, which, you know, scientists
were already concerned about.

137
00:05:38,303 --> 00:05:41,663
And so now we're in a problem with
manatees decreasing in population

138
00:05:41,663 --> 00:05:44,453
because of bad water quality,
less seagrass and so forth.

139
00:05:44,453 --> 00:05:46,109
And that's a big problem, but.

140
00:05:46,109 --> 00:05:49,659
We saw a recovery in this population
of green sea turtles or in the

141
00:05:49,659 --> 00:05:53,409
species of green sea turtles in
specific areas, which is great to see.

142
00:05:53,619 --> 00:05:55,629
So happy to see that that's happening.

143
00:05:55,629 --> 00:06:00,249
And now we move on to the bad news
where we saw seals and climate

144
00:06:00,249 --> 00:06:01,719
pressure that have taken a hit.

145
00:06:01,719 --> 00:06:05,019
So harp hooded and bearded
seals in the arctic have moved

146
00:06:05,019 --> 00:06:06,939
into higher risk categories.

147
00:06:07,059 --> 00:06:09,099
So their survival depends on sea ice.

148
00:06:09,099 --> 00:06:10,089
They need sea ice to rest.

149
00:06:10,089 --> 00:06:10,903
They need sea ice to eat.

150
00:06:11,009 --> 00:06:14,589
When the the ice sea ice is
vanishing faster than we predicted

151
00:06:14,589 --> 00:06:17,619
because of climate change, which
I just talked in the last episode.

152
00:06:17,739 --> 00:06:19,629
We were talking a bit more about
coral reefs, but there's other

153
00:06:19,629 --> 00:06:23,349
species like polar bears and seals
in the Arctic that depend on sea ice.

154
00:06:23,529 --> 00:06:28,299
When you don't have sea ice, you are at
risk of dying more, and you have a risk

155
00:06:28,299 --> 00:06:33,039
of not being able to survive, and so
you end up losing populations, right?

156
00:06:33,039 --> 00:06:34,719
Losing individuals and populations.

157
00:06:34,719 --> 00:06:38,678
So you know when you have no
ground beneath your paw and

158
00:06:38,678 --> 00:06:40,358
you are an air breather and
you're swimming the whole time.

159
00:06:40,358 --> 00:06:41,468
At some point you have to rest.

160
00:06:41,468 --> 00:06:44,158
That's why polar bears, although
they can swim really long distances,

161
00:06:44,158 --> 00:06:47,098
200, 400 kilometers, I think
the longest was 700 kilometers.

162
00:06:47,248 --> 00:06:48,388
They still need to rest.

163
00:06:48,388 --> 00:06:49,918
They still need to rest on the ice.

164
00:06:49,918 --> 00:06:50,758
And same with seals.

165
00:06:50,758 --> 00:06:52,948
Their air breathers, they need
to rest on the ice, maybe feed

166
00:06:52,948 --> 00:06:54,388
on the ice or bask in the sun

167
00:06:54,388 --> 00:06:55,588
just be able to rest.

168
00:06:55,648 --> 00:06:58,288
If they can't do that on the sea
ice 'cause it's not there floating

169
00:06:58,288 --> 00:06:59,758
sea ice, then they will die.

170
00:07:00,358 --> 00:07:01,528
That's really what happens.

171
00:07:01,528 --> 00:07:03,208
They will drown and they will die.

172
00:07:03,448 --> 00:07:06,898
And we're starting to see that more
and more because there's less sea ice.

173
00:07:07,048 --> 00:07:08,038
And we're seeing it with polar bears.

174
00:07:08,038 --> 00:07:10,328
We're seeing it with other marine
mammals, like, bearded harp

175
00:07:10,328 --> 00:07:12,078
and hooded seals in the arctic.

176
00:07:12,078 --> 00:07:12,708
That's happening.

177
00:07:12,708 --> 00:07:14,448
And that's obviously not a good thing.

178
00:07:14,448 --> 00:07:17,658
So more protection needs to be done there,
but the protection needs to be like,

179
00:07:17,658 --> 00:07:19,068
we need to keep this sea ice around.

180
00:07:19,174 --> 00:07:22,324
Now, of course, let's move over
to the birds Now, you know, 61% of

181
00:07:22,324 --> 00:07:24,894
bird species globally are declining.

182
00:07:25,049 --> 00:07:27,029
That's more than half 61%.

183
00:07:27,139 --> 00:07:29,119
Basically the threats are deforestation.

184
00:07:29,119 --> 00:07:34,219
So a lot of forests like Indonesia,
Amazon, and Canada, like we're

185
00:07:34,219 --> 00:07:35,659
starting to see a lot of deforestation.

186
00:07:35,659 --> 00:07:39,109
Whether it's deforestation because of
humans, direct humans, or indirect,

187
00:07:39,109 --> 00:07:40,369
like climate change and wildfires.

188
00:07:40,519 --> 00:07:42,049
We're starting to see
a lot of deforestation.

189
00:07:42,229 --> 00:07:45,349
Which we all know are habitats
for a lot of the birds.

190
00:07:45,546 --> 00:07:48,486
Agriculture is increasing,
usually because of deforestation.

191
00:07:48,666 --> 00:07:52,626
Invasive species are coming in and they're
messing around with the food webs and the

192
00:07:52,626 --> 00:07:56,886
available resources for these birds to
not only be protected, but also to feed.

193
00:07:56,886 --> 00:07:58,326
And then of course there's climate change.

194
00:07:58,416 --> 00:08:01,206
Climate change is changing wind
patterns It's making things hotter.

195
00:08:01,216 --> 00:08:04,786
It's causing wildfires,
which leads to deforestation.

196
00:08:04,786 --> 00:08:06,466
It just makes everything worse.

197
00:08:06,556 --> 00:08:08,920
And so when we start to
see that it becomes worse.

198
00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:10,800
Then you got like the human side of it.

199
00:08:10,910 --> 00:08:14,176
Obviously I mentioned, deforestation,
agriculture, invasive species, usually

200
00:08:14,176 --> 00:08:16,756
by humans and human related activities.

201
00:08:17,056 --> 00:08:19,096
But you also have like
these migratory areas.

202
00:08:19,096 --> 00:08:22,126
So birds migrate, a lot of birds
migrate really long distances.

203
00:08:22,236 --> 00:08:26,166
But during that migration, they
need to stop over and rest and

204
00:08:26,166 --> 00:08:29,706
feed to get the energy to continue
on with their long migrations.

205
00:08:29,816 --> 00:08:33,206
I'm gonna think in Canada because I'm in
Canada, birds that migrate from the Arctic

206
00:08:33,206 --> 00:08:36,661
all the way down to the south of like
say the United States, or even in Mexico.

207
00:08:36,775 --> 00:08:40,121
They have to stop over at certain
areas and you know, they travel in

208
00:08:40,121 --> 00:08:42,881
wind tunnels because it's easier
to travel when the wind is at your

209
00:08:42,881 --> 00:08:45,265
back and they land in those areas.

210
00:08:45,265 --> 00:08:49,555
Well, when those areas are not available
because of destruction practices or,

211
00:08:49,585 --> 00:08:54,461
you know, development or maybe even
sometimes renewable energy areas that are

212
00:08:54,461 --> 00:08:55,951
impacted 'cause that's where the wind is.

213
00:08:55,951 --> 00:08:57,181
So they'll put windmills in there.

214
00:08:57,391 --> 00:09:00,758
That can impact a population if
it's not designated in the right

215
00:09:00,758 --> 00:09:02,165
spot or located in the right spot.

216
00:09:02,275 --> 00:09:05,515
It becomes a big problem when
we talk about migratory spaces.

217
00:09:05,625 --> 00:09:10,005
So the lack of migratory stopovers,
tropical burns, losing forest.

218
00:09:10,005 --> 00:09:14,583
Like we are starting to see these areas
be impacted and these birds be impacted.

219
00:09:14,583 --> 00:09:17,173
And now we're down to 61%
of birds species you know,

220
00:09:17,173 --> 00:09:18,523
globally, that are declining.

221
00:09:18,523 --> 00:09:22,683
Not a good thing, You have a
great success story in the sea

222
00:09:22,683 --> 00:09:23,913
turtles, like green sea turtles.

223
00:09:24,026 --> 00:09:28,051
You have a declining story with
harp hooded and bearded seals in the

224
00:09:28,051 --> 00:09:29,161
Arctic because of lack of sea ice.

225
00:09:29,281 --> 00:09:32,991
And then of course, 61% of species are
declining globally . That's declining.

226
00:09:33,021 --> 00:09:34,251
That's not a good story.

227
00:09:34,391 --> 00:09:36,941
So although where you're gonna see a
lot of highlights, you're gonna see a

228
00:09:36,941 --> 00:09:40,151
lot of people's talk about how green
sea turtles have been, you know, sort

229
00:09:40,151 --> 00:09:44,151
of delisted to one category, which is
great it is a testament to a lot of

230
00:09:44,151 --> 00:09:47,001
people working really, really hard,
putting a lot of money and effort into

231
00:09:47,001 --> 00:09:50,301
those protections and making sure that
the population has not only stabilized,

232
00:09:50,301 --> 00:09:51,801
but it's gotten bigger, which is great.

233
00:09:52,251 --> 00:09:54,741
We still have a lot of
problems on this earth and so.

234
00:09:55,251 --> 00:09:58,551
You know, looking at the new IUCN
red list of endangered species

235
00:09:58,551 --> 00:10:00,801
and how that's changed, that's
great, but there's also been a lot

236
00:10:00,801 --> 00:10:02,671
of impact on more species, right?

237
00:10:02,781 --> 00:10:06,801
WWF Canada just released a report on a
lot of the species within Canada that

238
00:10:06,811 --> 00:10:08,851
have been declining, a majority of them.

239
00:10:08,971 --> 00:10:10,201
So obviously that's not good.

240
00:10:10,201 --> 00:10:11,281
So we're starting to see that.

241
00:10:11,281 --> 00:10:13,141
And a lot of it is human inflicted.

242
00:10:13,221 --> 00:10:16,911
A lot of it is because whether it's
direct or indirect, it's loss of habitat,

243
00:10:16,911 --> 00:10:19,281
loss of sea ice, loss of resources.

244
00:10:19,611 --> 00:10:20,811
It's not really that great.

245
00:10:20,811 --> 00:10:25,281
In Ontario on land, the government
is taking away from anything on the

246
00:10:25,281 --> 00:10:26,781
endangered species at risk list.

247
00:10:26,781 --> 00:10:30,531
And on the province, they're
actually taking away the protections

248
00:10:30,531 --> 00:10:32,151
of the habitat of the species.

249
00:10:32,151 --> 00:10:34,761
So normally when you protect the
species, you wanna protect their habitat.

250
00:10:34,868 --> 00:10:36,188
But no, they're not
protecting the habitat.

251
00:10:36,188 --> 00:10:38,288
They're protecting where they get
their food, but they're not protecting

252
00:10:38,288 --> 00:10:41,018
the habitat, where they live, where
they nest, where they actually, you

253
00:10:41,018 --> 00:10:44,281
know, sit and be comfortable and be
safe from predators and so forth.

254
00:10:44,421 --> 00:10:45,291
They don't wanna protect that.

255
00:10:45,291 --> 00:10:47,961
They're actually trying to change that law
if they've not, haven't done it already.

256
00:10:48,111 --> 00:10:51,861
Governments that are changing these
laws for development or changing

257
00:10:51,861 --> 00:10:54,951
these laws for whatever reason of
oil and gas development, whatever

258
00:10:54,951 --> 00:10:58,231
that might be, we need to get
those guys out of there, right?

259
00:10:58,231 --> 00:10:59,791
We need to get those
politicians out there.

260
00:10:59,791 --> 00:11:02,941
We need to put politicians that are
making sense of like, Hey, you know what?

261
00:11:02,941 --> 00:11:07,231
We can actually be economically sound
as well as environmentally sound

262
00:11:07,381 --> 00:11:09,301
like those two can go hand in hand.

263
00:11:09,441 --> 00:11:10,701
I think it's really important.

264
00:11:10,838 --> 00:11:14,378
Climate change, habitat loss, exploitation
of human driven problems, those are

265
00:11:14,378 --> 00:11:17,508
things that we need to get in control.

266
00:11:17,655 --> 00:11:21,125
And to get into control, you need to
make sure that we are doing our part.

267
00:11:21,155 --> 00:11:23,915
Go vote for environmentally
focused politicians.

268
00:11:24,215 --> 00:11:27,005
Make sure that when you speak to
the candidates that come around

269
00:11:27,005 --> 00:11:29,285
your area, be like, what are
you doing for the environment?

270
00:11:29,285 --> 00:11:30,995
What are you actually
doing for the environment?

271
00:11:30,995 --> 00:11:34,775
If they give you this bs, that climate
change isn't here, or it's not true, or

272
00:11:34,775 --> 00:11:38,044
it's being overblown in the proportion,
start to look at some of these reports.

273
00:11:38,044 --> 00:11:40,654
Show them some of these reports and be
like, look, I'm seeing headlines all

274
00:11:40,654 --> 00:11:44,735
the time and it's not leftist news or
extremist news, these are environmental

275
00:11:44,735 --> 00:11:48,575
reports by scientists who are paid to
do the work that they do and understand

276
00:11:48,575 --> 00:11:50,625
the trends in populations and so forth.

277
00:11:50,758 --> 00:11:53,428
If they don't understand that,
if they can't understand or they

278
00:11:53,428 --> 00:11:56,878
try and spin it a different way,
then that means they are corrupt.

279
00:11:57,073 --> 00:11:59,203
That means they don't care
about the environment.

280
00:11:59,203 --> 00:12:02,083
You need to put in politicians
that care about the environment,

281
00:12:02,083 --> 00:12:04,633
care about the economy too,
but care about the environment

282
00:12:04,633 --> 00:12:06,283
for heaven's sake, like Christ.

283
00:12:06,313 --> 00:12:07,993
Like we gotta be able to do something.

284
00:12:08,130 --> 00:12:12,599
You're looking at declines as widespread,
but recovery is possible, is something

285
00:12:12,599 --> 00:12:14,339
that we really need to focus on.

286
00:12:14,485 --> 00:12:17,245
You really need to understand
that you, who's listening to

287
00:12:17,245 --> 00:12:18,764
this, you're not powerless.

288
00:12:19,292 --> 00:12:22,352
There's citizen science,
there's policy advocacy.

289
00:12:22,352 --> 00:12:25,532
There's supporting organizations who
are working with like animals, like

290
00:12:25,532 --> 00:12:28,352
green sea turtle populations and local
communities that are actually doing

291
00:12:28,352 --> 00:12:29,642
it right to say, Hey, you know what?

292
00:12:29,642 --> 00:12:32,402
We want to increase the populations
of these species 'cause we know

293
00:12:32,402 --> 00:12:34,367
that they're declining quite
rapidly and we want to help.

294
00:12:34,727 --> 00:12:38,247
Those are the organizations that help
those communities or help bolster

295
00:12:38,247 --> 00:12:41,337
those populations in different ways
by doing different studies, even

296
00:12:41,337 --> 00:12:45,477
academically, in academia, like the
researchers and this graduate students,

297
00:12:45,477 --> 00:12:49,617
all the people who have put together
ways to do restoration or make sure

298
00:12:49,617 --> 00:12:50,937
that we're increasing restoration.

299
00:12:50,937 --> 00:12:53,727
Like Project Seagrass, they're
all good friends of mine, so I'm a

300
00:12:53,727 --> 00:12:54,897
little biased when it comes to that.

301
00:12:54,897 --> 00:12:58,767
But they've done a great thing to
take a small organization and have a

302
00:12:58,767 --> 00:13:00,687
big impact and bring people together.

303
00:13:00,687 --> 00:13:04,707
Not to take credit for other people's
work, but bring people together, identify

304
00:13:04,707 --> 00:13:09,087
what's missing within sort of the research
industry and be like, Hey, we can put

305
00:13:09,087 --> 00:13:13,107
that together and we'll make sure we drive
these types of projects as a collaborator.

306
00:13:13,107 --> 00:13:15,507
And I think that's just really great
to see organizations like that.

307
00:13:15,507 --> 00:13:18,327
And we should be supporting
organizations who do restoration,

308
00:13:18,327 --> 00:13:21,597
focus on projects, focus on ways
that we can collaborate with others.

309
00:13:21,652 --> 00:13:22,702
Put on symposiums.

310
00:13:22,702 --> 00:13:24,112
These are huge, huge things.

311
00:13:24,252 --> 00:13:27,862
So like the greener sea turtle survival
wasn't an accident The resurgent in

312
00:13:27,862 --> 00:13:29,122
that survival wasn't an accident.

313
00:13:29,269 --> 00:13:29,929
It was a choice.

314
00:13:29,929 --> 00:13:33,079
It was a choice that we made to
make sure, like as a collective.

315
00:13:33,219 --> 00:13:37,029
Not only just me as a scientist who's
speaking out for them, but as the people

316
00:13:37,029 --> 00:13:39,339
who are on the ground, the people who
are working with communities, those

317
00:13:39,339 --> 00:13:42,669
communities that are making changes in
their lives to make sure that they're

318
00:13:42,669 --> 00:13:45,609
not poaching eggs and they're not
eating sea turtle eggs or sea turtles.

319
00:13:45,639 --> 00:13:49,899
And they're starting to use sea turtles as
a way of driving ecotourism or as a way of

320
00:13:49,899 --> 00:13:52,929
making sure that they're marine protected
areas at certain times when sea turtles

321
00:13:52,929 --> 00:13:54,999
are there and that nobody harms them.

322
00:13:54,999 --> 00:13:58,509
They do their own sort of management
enforcement and it's great to see So.

323
00:13:58,509 --> 00:14:02,049
There's a lot of great things that
come out, but we still have so many

324
00:14:02,049 --> 00:14:05,139
species that we need to save and
we need to choose to save that.

325
00:14:05,139 --> 00:14:06,849
And the way we choose is to vote.

326
00:14:06,849 --> 00:14:10,809
Support organizations, policy
advocacy is huge, and a change in

327
00:14:10,809 --> 00:14:12,579
consumption habits is even bigger.

328
00:14:12,719 --> 00:14:13,769
That's where we're gonna end it.

329
00:14:13,769 --> 00:14:15,569
I would love to hear
your thoughts on this.

330
00:14:15,599 --> 00:14:16,709
Do you think it's a great thing?

331
00:14:16,802 --> 00:14:18,572
How do you think we should
manage the other endangered

332
00:14:18,572 --> 00:14:20,642
species or even just ecosystems?

333
00:14:20,822 --> 00:14:21,752
I'd love to hear your thoughts.

334
00:14:21,752 --> 00:14:22,772
Let me know in the comments below.

335
00:14:22,772 --> 00:14:24,392
If you're watching this on
YouTube, if you're listening to

336
00:14:24,527 --> 00:14:27,377
the audio on your favorite podcast
app, which I love, by the way.

337
00:14:27,377 --> 00:14:28,090
That's how I started.

338
00:14:28,237 --> 00:14:29,707
you're always gonna
get audio only from me.

339
00:14:29,707 --> 00:14:30,427
It's gonna be great.

340
00:14:30,577 --> 00:14:34,637
I'd like you to hit me up on Instagram,
dm me at how to protect the ocean.

341
00:14:34,637 --> 00:14:36,107
I'd love to hear your
thoughts on the episode.

342
00:14:36,287 --> 00:14:41,027
And of course you can also go to speak up
for blue.com/contact to fill out the form.

343
00:14:41,057 --> 00:14:42,947
Email me and let me know your thoughts.

344
00:14:43,127 --> 00:14:43,727
Love to hear it.

345
00:14:43,727 --> 00:14:44,867
That's it for today's episode.

346
00:14:44,867 --> 00:14:46,607
I wanna thank you so, so much.

347
00:14:46,927 --> 00:14:50,367
For supporting this podcast to
the level that it has on YouTube.

348
00:14:50,367 --> 00:14:54,147
We've actually gotten to the first level
of monetization, which opens up a lot of

349
00:14:54,147 --> 00:14:58,314
cool things that I'm working on right now
to you know, continue with this community.

350
00:14:58,444 --> 00:14:59,914
I'm very much looking forward to it.

351
00:14:59,914 --> 00:15:01,354
I'm just looking through
IT strategies right now.

352
00:15:01,674 --> 00:15:04,107
But I can't wait to reveal it for you.

353
00:15:04,254 --> 00:15:04,944
So that was you.

354
00:15:04,944 --> 00:15:08,094
That was because of you guys being able
to listen, being able to subscribe,

355
00:15:08,094 --> 00:15:09,714
to watch each and every episode.

356
00:15:09,714 --> 00:15:12,384
It's really, really important to
me, and that means a lot to me.

357
00:15:12,384 --> 00:15:13,734
So thank you very much for listening.

358
00:15:13,734 --> 00:15:16,764
You have been listening to this episode
of the How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.

359
00:15:16,944 --> 00:15:19,854
I am your host, Andrew Lewin,
from the True Nor Strong and free.

360
00:15:20,004 --> 00:15:20,634
Have a great day.

361
00:15:20,634 --> 00:15:22,704
We'll talk to you next time
and happy conservation.