VOA科学技术2024--Scientists in Thailand Free Endangered Sea Turtles into the Wild

Scientists in Thailand have released a group of endangered sea turtles in an effort to save the wild population.

A total of 11 baby leatherback sea turtles were recently released into the Indian Ocean from Thailand's vacation island of Phuket. The researchers are hoping the one-year-old turtles will get strong in the wild and return in 20 years to reproduce.

The release follows an intense conservation effort in recent years that centered on improving longtime survival rates for the sea creatures. In 2018, scientists discovered that leatherback sea turtles had returned to lay eggs in southern Thailand.

Some stronger members of that group successfully entered the ocean, but others died after hatching. So, a program was launched to help the weak baby leatherbacks grow, said Pinsak Suraswadi. He is the Director-General of Thailand's Department of Marine¹ and Coastal² Resources.

Thailand is one of five countries - including Sri Lanka and Canada - that has been able to keep leatherback turtles in good health through their first year. Usually, a leatherback will lay eggs after 20 to 25 years.

The baby sea turtles, released last month, have satellite devices attached to them to follow their progress. The release was part of an international effort by the nonprofit conservation organization Upwell Turtles.

Pinsak told Reuters news agency that it is necessary for researchers to study the animals' travel path in order "to understand where they are going." This helps the group know which measures to launch to protect the turtles' hatching process.

Leatherback sea turtles are believed to have developed more than 150 million years ago. But the animals are now extremely endangered in the Pacific area. The World Wildlife Fund estimates the current population in the Pacific to be fewer than 2,300 adult females.

While in the ocean, the turtles face dangers from fishing equipment, eating plastic waste and coming in contact with poisonous substances.

"I'm happy to know whether our effort in nurturing³ the leatherback sea turtles for a year proves fruitful or not," said Hirun Kanghae. He is with Thailand's Phuket Marine Biological Center.

"If they survive it answers everything about the conservation and population restoration of the leatherback sea turtles in the best way possible," Hirun added.

Words in This Story

conservation - n. an organized effort that aims to protect animals and natural resources

hatch - v. the process of an egg opening to give birth to a particular animal

nurture⁴ - v. to take efforts to look after, feed and protect young children, animals or plants

fruitful - adj. producing good or useful results

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

3 nurturing   

养育( nurture的现在分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• These delicate plants need careful nurturing. 这些幼嫩的植物需要精心培育。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants. 这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

4 nurture   

n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持

参考例句：

• The tree grows well in his nurture.在他的培育下这棵树长得很好。
• The two sisters had received very different nurture.这俩个姊妹接受过极不同的教育。