For those of you who have participated on one of our South Queensland or North Queensland, Australia programs, it’s a pretty safe bet that you’ve grown rather attached to one of the ocean’s most majestic creatures, the sea turtle. Why is this a safe bet?

Well, six of the world’s seven species of sea turtle can be found swimming off of the coasts of Australia, in particular all six can be found cruising along the EAC (we know you’ve seen Crush do this in Finding Nemo!) and the Great Barrier Reef. And these creatures are not particularly inconspicuous, with the largest species, the leatherback turtle, weighing up to 1,100 pounds and stretching six feet. The most common species in Australia, the green turtle, weighs up 290 pounds and stretches to five feet. Wow!

With great sorrow, it’s reported that six of the world’s seven species of marine turtles are listed as endangered or critically endangered. Fewer and fewer turtles are living long enough to reproduce because of anthropogenic (human-based) threats. We must therefore do all that we can to safeguard these regal creatures.

But how do you find out why a five-foot-long sea turtle is having epileptic fits? Read (and watch the video) about the exploits of Snorkel, a 160-pound loggerhead turtle, who travelled more than 1,100 miles from her home at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, England, to Cheltenham Imaging Center, home of one England’s first open-bore MRI machines.

Peruse the WWF website to see what they are doing to protect sea turtles and to see how you can get involved. If you have any comments, ideas or suggestions please share!