23/05/2026
🌊 🐢Happy World Turtle Day 🐢🌊
From ancient land wanderers to ocean-gliding giants, turtles and tortoises have been part of Earth’s story for over 200 million years, outliving dinosaurs and quietly shaping ecosystems along the way.
Across oceans, rivers, deserts, and forests, turtles play vital roles: grazing seagrass, controlling jellyfish populations, recycling nutrients, and helping maintain ecological balance. Yet today, many species are threatened by habitat loss, climate change, pollution, and illegal wildlife trade.
✨ EDGE Species Spotlight: Hawksbill Sea Turtle
The Critically Endangered Hawksbill Sea Turtle is a coral reef specialist found in tropical oceans worldwide. With its striking patterned shell and narrow beak, it helps maintain healthy reefs by feeding on sponges that would otherwise overwhelm corals.
✨ EDGE Fellows and Alumni Spotlight
EDGE Fellows and alumni work across the world to protect some of the most threatened turtles through science and community-led conservation, from hawksbills in Costa Rica and green turtles in the Philippines, to leatherbacks in Ghana and endangered freshwater species in Asia. Since 2018, eight EDGE Fellows have contributed to turtle conservation projects, with work spanning oceans, beaches, rivers, and forests, combining field research, local knowledge, and conservation action — all with one shared goal: securing the future of these ancient reptiles.
Here’s to Earth’s quiet navigators, still crossing oceans, shaping ecosystems, and reminding us that survival depends on patience, protection, and time. 🐢💚
Species 📷© Simon Pierce
