1K Turtle Aid Relaunch
If you have been following me for a while then you will have already heard about my 1K Turtle Aid project… in case you haven’t the idea is simple...
‘In order to make a difference, do something drastic! Start today by reducing your plastic. Lowenna Designs launches 1K Turtle Aid, a campaign to help our sea turtles stay!’
Well, due to moving to New Zealand last October and travelling around I seem to have lost track of some of my little turtle friends. I painted quite a lot of turtles when I was still in the UK, gifted quite a few to people along my travels to spread the turtle love and have just found they are now all a bit spread around the world (which is not a bad thing.) BUT the main point of this project was to raise awareness for the sea turtles and to create a story to every single one of my 1000 turtles to reach my projects goal, so because of that I will be re-launching 1K Turtle Aid now that I am settled in Queenstown and can give this project the love, care and attention it deserves.
So without further ado I will introduce my the number 1 new turtle… a baby little leatherback! 1/1000 was inspired by the incredible leatherback turtles and the struggles they face right from their infancy. Leatherback turtles are the largest turtle species on earth, their roots can be traced back more than 100 million years… but today leatherback turtle populations are rapidly declining around the world.
A lot of leatherback turtles meet an early death due to our actions as humans. It is estimated that only 1 out of 1000 leatherback hatchlings make it to adulthood, which makes this a pretty apt name for this little fella because he may be the only 1 to make it beyond his infancy. Baby turtles use the natural light horizon to help guide them to the sea as their emerge from their nest so beachfront lighting from buildings can disorient them and send them in different directions. They then need to survive getting down to the sea without getting caught by predators.
Although today leatherbacks (and other sea turtles) now face threats from fishing nets, getting struck by boats or digesting plastic that they mistake for jellyfish. Some individuals have been found to have up to 11 pounds of plastic in their stomachs which is astonishing. On a positive note the population of leatherback turtles in the Atlantic appears to be stable, whereas the Pacific population is declining at an alarming rate. In some areas such as Malaysia populations have disappeared entirely, mostly due to food availability and the increasing risk of fishing bycatch.
The time is now for us to call for changes to fishing practises and to cut down on our plastic use to help save these incredible species. Leatherback turtles can dive to depths of up to 4,200 feet which is more than any other sea turtle and they can stay down for up to 85 minutes. Each different species of sea turtle feed on different things, they may all like jellyfish but leatherback turtles specialise in eating these which helps to keep jellyfish populations in check therefore keeping balance in our oceans ecosystems.
Turtles are vital to the survival of our oceans and therefore we must protect them at all cost. Support the 1K Turtle Aid project in any way you can whether thats reading these stories, cutting back your plastic or purchasing a piece from the collection. You can purchase the leatherback turtle 1/1000 here.
