During 2021 in UKS2, we have been learning about Mexico and the conservation efforts to save sea turtles. The children have really enjoyed learning about the sea turtles and have been horrified to see the threats that they are facing. We have linked up with La Tortuga Viva, a turtle sanctuary in Juluchuca – a village on the west coast of Mexico. They were kind enough to host zoom calls with the children, answer their questions and share their work. We have also explored what we can do to support the sea turtles by learning about plastic pollution and writing our own ‘Pledge’ poem.
As a result of their learning, we sponsored four turtle nests to support the sanctuary and improve the life expectancy of sea turtles. As a school, we hosted an Easter Egg raffle to raise money to sponsor the nests. More than 280 Olive Ridley baby sea turtles have since been released in our honour, together with other hatched nests. The releases were conducted over the course of three days, and all the hatchlings made their way to their new ocean home.
We also had a visit from Raj Pandya, Remote Conservation Intern from La Tortuga Viva Sea Turtle Sanctuary, on World Sea Turtle Day. We participated in a re-enactment of a nest extraction and were able to talk to Raj face to face to answer more of our questions on conservation and marine wildlife.
It has been an inspirational project!
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