Seven Endangered Turtles Released On Texas Beach

An endangered green sea turtle begins to swim after being released off the coast of Port Aransas, Texas, Sept. 2, 2013. Coast Guard members teamed with volunteers for the Animal Rehabilitation Keep to safely release seven turtles back into their natural habitat. (Photo courtesy of Lee Harrison)

Coast Guard members support release of 7 endangered turtles at Texas beach

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Coast Guard members from Sector Corpus Christi helped return seven endangered sea turtles to the Gulf of Mexico, Monday, as part of a release program run by the Animal Rehabilitation Keep.

Petty Officer 1st Class Maximilliano Castillo of Coast Guard Station Aids to Navigation
 Corpus Christi carries an endangered green sea turtle to the shoreline in Port Aransas, Texas,
 Sept. 2, 2013. Coast Guard members teamed with volunteers for the Animal Rehabilitation
 Keep to safely release seven turtles back into their natural habitat.
(Photo courtesy of Lee Harrison)

"The Coast Guard provided valuable assistance to the Animal Rehabilitation Keep by escorting the sea turtles to their home in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Lee Harrison, Coast Guard Auxiliary member and executive director of Friends of the ARK. “Marine Protected Species are a vital component of the Coast Guard’s Ocean Steward program that investigates and educates the public about such things as throwing debris, plastics and other pollution in our waters. All seven released turtles had to be rehabilitated after being injured by mostly human errors in judgment, causing severe injuries to our sea turtles. It only seems right that human intervention then helped these beautiful creatures return to the sea."

Five green sea turtles, one loggerhead sea turtle and one Kemp's Ridley sea turtle were released.

The Animal Rehabilitation Keep is a non-profit organization that rehabilitates birds, especially aquatic birds, sea turtles, terrestrial turtles and tortoises and oversees their release into a hospitable, native environment

Petty Officer 3rd Class Derek Zillinger of Coast Guard Station Port Aransas holds an endangered green sea turtle ready to be released off the coast of Port Aransas, Texas, Sept. 2, 2013. Coast Guard members teamed with volunteers for the Animal Rehabilitation Keep to safely release seven turtles back into their natural habitat. (Photo courtesy of Lee Harrison)

Members of the Animal Rehabilitation Keep escort endangered green sea turtles into the water as they are released off the coast of Port Aransas, Texas, Sept. 2, 2013. Coast Guard members teamed with volunteers for the ARK to safely release seven turtles back into their natural habitat. (Photo courtesy of Lee Harrison)

Engaging the Public in the Fight Against Wildlife Trafficking

BY TARA D. SONENSHINE 
Tara D. Sonenshine serves as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.

March has been a good month for wildlife. 

At its annual meeting, held in Bangkok, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) voted to place new trade limits on sharks, mantas, and turtles for the first time in nearly a decade.

This is an important step in countering a fishing trade that claims the lives of 100 million sharks a year. There is also widespread fishing of mantas, in response to strong demand in Asia -- where many believe mantas' gill plates have invigorating medicinal qualities. Turtles have existed for 300 million years but are now in serious trouble around the world as they are frequently used as food and in traditional medicines in Asia, and their use in the pet trade is also a growing challenge.

The global meeting of wildlife enforcement networks also committed to scaling up regional enforcement capacity and coordination to respond to the serious threat posed by wildlife criminal networks that exploit animals for body parts or as trinkets.

For our part, at the State Department, we continue to engage in public education and outreach for all endangered wildlife on land and at sea. And we continue to underscore the many reasons for protecting wildlife, from its moral and environmental implications to the ways that large scale poaching and trafficking support international crime and threaten the livelihoods and economic growth opportunities of local communities in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere.