Sea turtles abroad and while traveling: are they dangerous, where do you encounter them, where can you see them?

What are sea turtles?

Sea turtles are large marine reptiles. They have an impressive shell, a good sense of smell and good underwater vision.
They live mainly in the water, only the females that lay eggs and the newly hatched baby turtles can be found on land, and very occasionally a turtle that is just sunbathing!
There are seven species of marine turtles.
Turtles can live a long time. It takes 15-30 years for them to reproduce, and then they can live for over a hundred years!
Unfortunately, sea turtle populations are threatened by hunting for their eggs, meat, skin and shell. They are also often bycatch in fisheries. Climate change also has a strong influence on turtle populations. Because the temperatures in the sand change, the sexes of the baby turtles in the eggs also change.

Sea turtles can be found in almost all oceans, except for the very cold areas and the polar regions.
They are usually found in the shallow coastal areas around coral reefs, seagrass beds, lagoons and estuaries. There is a lot of food for them here.
The best places to snorkel or dive with them include Borneo, Australia, Costa Rica, Hawaii, Indonesia and Oman.

Although sea turtles can bite, they usually do not bite people. They are gentle creatures that rarely show aggression.
However, with their exceptionally powerful jaws they can cause damage. Sea turtles do not have teeth, but on the inside of a sea turtle's mouth there are backward-facing cartilaginous barbs.
They defend themselves when threatened. If you try to pick up a sea turtle, for example, it may bite you in self-defense.

If you see a sea turtle in the wild, try not to get too close, do not disturb the turtle and certainly do not try to pick the turtle up.
During egg laying, you should always stay far away. Do not touch the turtle or stand in its field of vision. This can seriously disrupt the egg laying and have major consequences for the population.
Especially with baby sea turtles, touching can cause harm. They can become disoriented, they can injure their shell (which is still soft) and eventually they can die.

Wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water to prevent infection.
Put antiseptic on the wound and keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get infected.

Sea turtles can carry bacteria and diseases that can be harmful to humans.
Eating sea turtle meat is not safe. Salmonella and chelonitoxism (a type of food poisoning) are a major risk.

You certainly can! There are many great projects to help protect sea turtles.
For example, you can help with projects that protect the eggs. Here you contribute to the
- protection of eggs by placing fences
- counting and locating eggs
- building breeding sites
- collecting of data, for example by patrolling the beach during the egg-laying period.
You can also help care for injured turtles.
Research is another sector that sometimes needs help. For example, there are sometimes projects from universities that need volunteers or interns to carry out research tasks.
Read more about: Protecting sea turtles: what is it, where can you do it and are you insured?

You can have a wonderful time with other passionate individuals.
All seven species of sea turtles are (seriously) endangered: the Flatback sea turtle, Green sea turtle, Hawksbill sea turtle, Kemp's sea turtle, Leatherback sea turtle, Loggerhead sea turtle and Dwarf sea turtle can use your help.
Knowledge of a special group of animals.
Images of sometimes thousands of small turtles.
What do you need to protect sea turtles abroad?
A love of nature and animals in general and marine life in particular.
A flexible sleep schedule.
Limited sensitivity to less pleasant odors.
In some cases, a lot of stamina (the nesting sites are sometimes a bit further away on remote beaches).
If you have experience working with animals or medical care of animals, you can be deployed in more diverse activities of a project.