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the BTC's barb andrews The Sea Turtles |
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Five sea turtle species inhabit the Eastern Pacific; all five are endangered and several are ecologically extinct. Sea turtles have inhabited our oceans for thousands of years, and connect many countries by their amazing migrations. North Pacific loggerhead sea turtles migrate more than 7,000 miles from Japan via Hawaii to feed and grow to maturity in Baja California Sur, MX, where they spend up to 30 years before returning to Japan to breed. With stunning images and film, sea turtle conservationists Barb Andrews and Hoyt Peckham shared an overview of sea turtles and the important ecological, economic and cultural roles they play around the Pacific. Hoyt presented his recent findings that small scale fishermen can have disproportionately severe impacts on the oceans' largest endangered animals. He shared how he and his team are partnering with local fishermen to elucidate the ecology and behavior of sea turtles and in turn together using this new information to develop locally appropriate solutions that protect sea turtles without compromising fishermen's livelihoods. Berkeley Tennis Club member Barb Andrews has worked in Baja California, Mexico since 1999 on the conservation of the sea turtles of the Eastern Pacific. She is currently Board Chair of the U.S. based nonprofit organization Pro Peninsula, dedicated to strengthening individual and community efforts to protect the natural environment throughout the Baja California peninsula. Barb is also Project Coordinator and Paralegal at the California Academy of Sciences and works periodically as a mountaineering and sea kayak guide and naturalist. Hoyt Peckham is a PhD Candidate in Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz and Director of Field Research with Pro Peninsula. Hoyt directs Proyecto Caguama, partnering with fishers in Pacific Mexico and Japan to reduce by-catch of sea turtles and other marine species. With partners at Pro Peninsula, Grupo Tortuguero, RARE, and PRONATURA, Hoyt empowers local stakeholders to conserve their marine resources with locally resonant media, including films, festivals, murals, and comic books. His short documentary Caguamas del Pacifico: ¿en las manos de quién? / Pacific Loggerhead Turtles: In whose hands? was recently honored at two film festivals. The BTC thanks both Barb and Hoyt for an intriguing and enlightening look at sea turtles, our ocean's ambassadors. |
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