Logan Tuckman is 12 years old and in 6th grade. He lives in San Francisco and he has always loved turtles. He is currently doing an in-depth research project about turtles for school. For the project he needed to conduct an interview with a turtle expert and his teacher led him to Dr. George Shillinger.

Saving turtles is really important to me because they have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I have always been really fascinated by turtles. It’s been a running joke in my family that a turtle is always at the top of every wish list.

I recently had a great conversation with Upwell’s Executive Director Dr. George Shillinger and I learned even more about sea turtle conservation. After our call, I made a donation to Upwell and asked George if I could help in any further way. George then challenged me to write a blog on how young people, like me, could help the continued conservation of turtles.

While talking to George, he described the main challenges turtles have been facing and will continue to face if we don’t take action. Global warming has been a major problem for a lot of reasons. One of the main problems from global warming is the impact on the gender of the turtle eggs because temperature determines if the turtle will be a male or female. When a turtle egg is above 87.7 degrees, the egg becomes female; so, as global warming increases the temperature of earth’s surface, the majority of eggs will be female.

Human devastation has a large impact on turtle extinction, like turtles getting caught in fishing gear, being killed for their meat and shells, and the destruction of nesting beaches. In some cultures eating turtles or their eggs is a delicacy, which I believe is unnecessary. Also a hawksbill turtle shell can sell for a high price so poachers will do almost anything to get the shells. Additional human destruction occurs when plastic accumulates in the ocean. Turtles can then eat the plastic thinking it is food. All of the reasons above can result in fewer than 1 out of 1,000 turtles making it to adulthood. There are also natural predators that impact the survival of turtles too.

I have thought about the ways young people can help turtles like picking up plastic in the ocean, helping with beach cleanups, volunteering for different turtle conservation organizations including Upwell, and understanding turtle history and challenges. There are many organizations that do a lot to help save the turtles. If you do not have any places near you to volunteer, a great thing to do is donate to a reliable national organization.

About a year ago I did a beach cleanup and did not think much of it. Now that I am more interested in saving turtles and saving the environment I see the impact that beach cleanups have on the earth. Now I wonder why the bottles, bags and other plastics are even in the ocean. Then, after one question, more questions arise like: how long has the plastic been there and when will they be cleaned up if volunteers don’t remove it? I am now motivated to do more beach cleanups. If you want to help, I really recommend looking up local conservation organizations cleaning up beaches, waterways or even storm drains near you.

This has made me think a lot about how I can help the conservation of sea turtles. I am designing, creating, and going to sell a “save the turtles” shirt or sweatshirt where the proceeds will go to Upwell. Turtle evolution dates back 250 million years. I want turtles to grow up in safer oceans. I want to see the world of turtles overcome and adapt to other major problems today and tomorrow so they can be around for at least 250 million more years.