Endangered turtles hatch on beach that was deserted due to coronavirus

At the moment, people are being encouraged to stay indoors to stop the spread of the coronavirus. While this is difficult for humans, itā€™s had some surprising effects on the planet. Interestingly, scientists have even found itā€™s helped the earth in some unusual ways. Preventing the spread of this disease is starting to have some unintended but very welcome consequences.

Thereā€™s less air pollution. This is especially true in major cities, which means weā€™re breathing cleaner air. And animals are safer than ever. This includes sea turtles, which are currently endangered.

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Sea turtles are thriving

When babies, these amazing creatures are at risk. Thatā€™s because when they hatch, things like lights and human interaction distract them. Unfortunately, many of them never reach the ocean to start their lives because of that. But now that humans arenā€™t hanging out at beaches, they have a better chance of survival.

Paulista City Hall Source: Paulista City Hall
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This is happening in Brazil

Brazil, like most countries around the world, is taking steps to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. On March 22, Hawksbill sea turtles hatched in Paulista, a town located in Pernambuco. The tiny creatures made their way out of their shells.

Paulista City Hall Source: Paulista City Hall
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This town is a popular beach destination

Usually, Paulista is crawling with tourists and locals, all eager to enjoy the beach. Itā€™s quite a busy area. As you can imagine, that means sea turtles donā€™t fare too well. Thereā€™s just too much going on.

Paulista City Hall Source: Paulista City Hall
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But now, thereā€™s a partial shutdown

To encourage people to stay home, Paulista has now imposed a partial shutdown. While some individuals arenā€™t too happy about it, this has become essential. With people staying indoors, the beach is empty. Thatā€™s something that hasnā€™t happened in a very long time.

Paulista City Hall Source: Paulista City Hall
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The turtles had easy access to the ocean

Depending on when the sea turtles were born, some may have had a more difficult time reaching the ocean than others. But overall, they did remarkably wellā€¦thanks to no human interference. Considering this species has been endangered for quite some time, this is a positive thing.

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Local government workers snapped pictures

Due to the ban in place, the public might not have known anything about this event if it hadnā€™t been for some local government workers. Since their jobs fall into the ā€œessential,ā€ category, theyā€™re still out and about. Thatā€™s how they saw the turtles hatching and heading to the shore. They knew they had to share photos with the people on the internet.

Paulista City Hall Source: Paulista City Hall
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The turtles had some help

But the turtles did have a little bit of help from a special agency. The Urban Sustainability Center was monitoring them to make sure they were as safe as possible. With their assistance, 97 of the sea turtles broke out of their shells and successfully made their way to the water.

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This should be a wake-up call

The current health situation has forced the world to see what itā€™s like when people curb their daily activities. It turns out, thatā€™s not all bad. When things get back to normal, itā€™ll be important to take the lessons learned during this time and apply them to everyday life. Hopefully, this will benefit the sea turtles in the future.

Instagram/elna_seaturtle_conservation Source: Instagram/elna_seaturtle_conservation
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Source: 22 Words, Paulista City Hall

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