Sea Turtles in El Salvador Need Protection

by Michael

I was recently reading an article about a woman who was doing some extraordinary work in saving sea turtles in her native land (http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/05/28/cnnheroes.suzan.lakhan.baptiste/index.html ).

It made me remember my surf trip to El Salvador a couple years ago. One day when I was out surfing west of La Libertad, a sea turtle poked his head out of the water right next to me. He looked right at me and I was struck by the gentle nature in his eyes.

A few days later I was touring La Libertad with my guide who is native Salvadorian. In the market on the pier, we saw many fish including sea turtle eggs for sale. I asked my guide about this and he told me that he ate them often. When I mentioned that they were endangered and that eating the eggs was not a good idea, he said he did not care because “they taste good”.

I had a chance to travel a lot around the country during my stay in El Salvador. It is a place of many wonders and natural resources. Unfortunately, it is also a place of poverty and ignorance – which is causing it to destroy itself; both the people and the environment. It is El Salvador’s second war.

I hope one day it becomes the paradise that I could see hiding just under the surface.