Pitufa.at

Turtles are still hunted and eaten on most islands in the Pacific, the only exceptions are touristy places (where the locals are encouraged to protect them as an attraction for visitors) and around very developed areas, where environmental organisations have been raising awareness for the protection of endangered species. We try the same and often include turtles in the presentations we do at schools, explaining their role in the eco-system and how so many die in the nets of big fishing fleets and due to plastic pollution that it’s no longer sustainable for islanders to hunt them like its their tradition… The only places where we’ve met lots of turtles that are not even afraid of humans, has been in very remote, uninhabited places and around islands with strict seventh day adventist churches (as their religion prohibits the consumption of marine animals without scales…).
In Kapingamarangi we see even less turtles when going snorkeling than on the atolls of PNG, where we’ve just come from–only one small specimen so far. Yesterday, our friend Twinson, the policeman, came by with his boat after a fishing trip to offer us some tuna. I was horrified to see a small turtle lying on its back among the fish the three men had caught. I asked if the poor thing was still alive (yes, yes) and tried to explain that it was still very small, too small to be caught, but they just laughed and said it was good meat. So I asked if I could buy it from them, but Twinson refused with a smile, no money needed, I could have it for free. Again I tried to explain that we see so few turtles anymore and that it would be really good to protect them now to still have some for the future, but I don’t think they understood or agreed. Twinson gestured to the boy at the bow, who grabbed the turtle at its flipper and hauled it over the side. I was worried that it was too hurt or weak to swim (it had looked dead in the boat), but the little creature set off like shot from a cannon and was gone from sight within a second.
I hope it has learned its lesson, will give humans a wide berth from now on, and will grow to be a huge, wise, old turtle.
I didn’t take pictures yesterday, but here’s an unafraid specimen we met in the Line Islands