Sea Keepers //
Guardianes del mar

“The ocean flows with a delicate balance. The sea creatures that call it home depend on its health and each other to thrive. The Leatherback sea turtle helps corral the jellyfish population with every meal. They travel far and wide across the open ocean while providing protection for smaller creatures. Green sea turtles maintain the seabed by eating seagrass and algae. The Atlantic Hawksbill serves as a reef keeper, ensuring other animals can access healthy coral. Each unique role and their everyday actions matter.

Some of the biggest risks to sea turtles are dangerous fishing gear, habitat loss, pollution, excessive egg collection, coastal development, and climate change. These sea turtles need protection and we need them to continue their role in the ocean’s wondrous equation. Whether we realize it or not, humans are part of this delicate balance, and our homes and lives depend on it too.

This piece is a joyful celebration of sea turtles as guardians of the sea. It calls upon all of us to see ourselves as fellow keepers of this vital marine ecosystem.

The ocean connects us. We are all sea keepers.”


— Sabrina Dorsainvil

The Focus

Sea turtle conservation & marine biodiversity loss

Action steps

You can help save sea turtles by:
• Using ocean-safe cosmetics and household products.
• Choose seafood caught in ways that do not harm or kill turtles. Become a conscious and responsible seafood consumer by asking where and how your seafood was caught.
• Contact your local sea turtle stranding network if you see a sick or injured sea turtle.

What Can You Do to Protect Sea Turtle Habitat?
• Say NO to single-use plastics to keep our beaches and ocean clean
• Carry reusable water bottles and shopping bags. Refrain from releasing balloons, they'll likely end up in the ocean where sea turtles can mistake them for prey and consume them. Plastic bags and balloons look a lot like jellyfish in the water.
• Fill in holes and knock down sandcastles before you leave the beach. They can become obstacles for nesting turtles or emerging hatchling

Sea Turtle Friendly Fishing and Boating Tips:
• Go Slow: Sea Turtles Below! Sea turtles are commonly found in oceans, bays, sounds, and near shore waters. Remember, turtles have to come up to the surface for air, and they can be difficult to see. Boat strikes are a serious threat to sea turtles, so slow down and steer around them.
• Watch for sea turtles in the water. Give them at least 50 yards of space. If you see them closer put your engine in neutral to avoid injury.
• Watch for schools of small fish or jellyfish, sea turtles could be nearby.
• Wear polarized sunglasses to help you better see animals in the water.
• Never abandon fishing gear. Hooks, lines, or nets left in the water can entangle and kill sea turtles.
• Use barbless circle hooks.
• Recycle fishing line and discard your trash on shore in trash receptacles.
Change fishing location if sea turtles are in the area and show interest in your bait or catch. Don’t cast your line if a sea turtle is in the area.
• Don’t discard bait or fish remains into the water—sea turtles may associate the area with food and be at risk of capture or entanglement in hook and line gear.
• Never feed or attempt to feed sea turtles—it is harmful and illegal!

Learn more here!