Direct action for turtles!
One of the most important sea turtle nesting beaches in the world is located on a remote beach in Cabo Verde, a small island nation in the central Atlantic Ocean. Each year thousands of loggerhead sea turtles come onshore to lay their eggs. However, the coastline is suffocating under tons of discarded fishing gear and other marine debris that washes up on shore every day.
If the mother turtles manage to safely navigate this dangerous wasteland without becoming entangled, her baby hatchlings have their own deadly mountain to cross before reaching the sea. Fishing nets lost, abandoned or discarded at sea – also known as “ghost nets” – continue killing indiscriminately for decades and decades, entangling or suffocating countless sea turtles every year.
Six out of the seven species of sea turtle are either listed as threatened or endangered. The loggerhead sea turtle is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as vulnerable, one step away from endangered, with a decreasing population due to poaching and fishing gear entanglement.
To help protect the turtles in Cabo Verde, Sea Shepherd has teamed up with the local organization Biosfera to clear away the deadly fishing gear from the beaches. Your donations can help us continue this important work to protect the turtles.
Join Sea Shepherd’s fight, act now!
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Film: Defending Turtles in Cabo Verde
For more information about Sea Shepherds efforts to defend turtles in Cabo Verde check out the short documentary via: https://www.seashepherdglobal.org/our-campaigns/cabo-verde-turtles/
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What is Sea Shepherd doing with my donation?
In 2016 Sea Shepherd granted a boat, the Jairo Mora Sandoval, to the local conservation group Biosfera to help them clear the marine debris from remote beaches like Santa Luzia each season before the turtles arrived to lay their eggs. We use your donations to keep the Sea Shepherd vessel Jairo Mora Sandoval on patrol to protect turtles and other marine wildlife in Cabo Verde. Learn more via: https://www.seashepherdglobal.org/our-campaigns/cabo-verde-turtles/