Sea Turtles on Our Shores… More Than Just Summer Visitors

From my very first years in the field, the sea has taught me more than any book ever could.

Among all the marine creatures I’ve encountered, sea turtles remain the ones that touched my heart first

not just because they are fascinating beings, but because they constantly remind me that nature knows its way, if only we allow it the space to thrive.

A Journey to Bareedi Beach… More Than Just a Field Survey

One summer day, we were conducting environmental surveys on Bareedi Beach, north of Yanbu.

The sun was slowly setting, its light reflecting off the golden sand.

Suddenly, I noticed winding tracks leading from the shoreline to a higher point in the dunes.

We followed them quietly and there she was: a green turtle, searching for the perfect place to lay her eggs.

She didn’t just dig anywhere. She performed what could only be described as a complex,

instinctive engineering task testing the sand, assessing the site, and finally, preparing her nest in solemn silence.

We sat quietly behind her, respecting her ritual.

We weren’t just observers we were witnesses to one of nature’s most powerful moments.

That night, I couldn’t sleep.

My thoughts spiraled:

How does she return so precisely to the same beach where she hatched more than 20 years ago?

How does she find it among hundreds of sandy shores?

Everything about her says one thing:

This creature is worth every effort to protect.

Unseen Roles, Vital Impact

Sea turtles are far more than graceful silhouettes in the water.

They are engineers of the marine ecosystem:

• Adult green turtles help keep seagrass beds healthy and regenerative by grazing on the tips of

  their blades,while juvenile turtles feed on marine algae, helping maintain balance in their spread.

• Hawksbill turtles, on the other hand, feed on sponges, preventing them from dominating

  coral reefs and allowing coral colonies to grow.

• Their very presence supports the abundance of other species in the food web

  from small reef fish to seabirds.

A Deeper Truth

When you see a sea turtle emerging from the ocean, crawling over the sand to continue its life cycle, you feel something hard to describe.

You realize that we are just a small part of a much greater system and that our survival is deeply tied to its balance.

So this message is not just scientific it is deeply human:

Protect the sea turtles…

for they are the ones who keep the sea alive.