Hi John – did you know that baby sea turtles have something called a "lost year"?

It's a period in their life cycle when they seek refuge in a unique habitat out in the open ocean. Here they take cover in giant drifting seaweed beds that protect them from predators. This habitat is particularly abundant in the Sargasso Sea, where I am right now on a Greenpeace ship.

I'm here campaigning for a UN global treaty that will turn precious marine places like this into ocean sanctuaries – putting them off-limits to destructive industries. The UK government has already made supportive statements but now we need to get them to show real leadership and push for a strong agreement. 164, 778 have so far signed the petition calling on the government to do just that (thanks so much for adding your name!) – the more people who sign, the more pressure the government will feel.
 

It's tough being a baby sea turtle. Fewer than 1 in 1000 hatchlings survive to adulthood. In their first minutes of life, birds, crabs, raccoons, and foxes prey on them as they dash from their nests on the beach into the sea.

But it's "unnatural predators" that pose the greatest threat to turtles: fishing nets, plastic pollution, and other human caused threats like climate change. And this is where ocean sanctuaries come in.

By putting the most vulnerable and important parts of our seas off-limits to destructive industries, we can give these places the opportunity to recover. And in doing so, we can ensure that precious species like sea turtles thrive.

If we all join together to demand action, the Sargasso Sea could become one of the first of these oceans sanctuaries to result from the new Global Ocean Treaty agreed at the UN. And the UK Government has a key role to play in the negotiations.
 

Thanks so much for your support on this. I'll keep you updated on how it all goes.

Dario Parra,
Protect the Oceans Team

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