Sea turtles are of a group of very old reptiles that still grace our planet widely. They appeared about 200 million years ago. All species of sea turtles are endangered because of several factors: They become entangled in fishing nets, they get caught by fishermen to be eaten, they have their eggs stolen from the beaches where the females lay their eggs, and very few governments of the world where these marvelous animals are to be found really enforce the laws that they made for the protection of these lovely swimmers of the ocean.

Of the 210 living species of turtles today, seven are marine. Turtles have marvelous adaptations, such as becoming more streamlined, the bony elements in the shell have been greatly reduced. The typical cylindrical limbs of tortoises have become flippers, broad and flattened, the front flippers powering the swim, the rear flippers are rudders.

It is these adaptations to marine life that make the animals so ungainly on land, and during the landfalls that historically so many ships travelling around the globe have made, millions of these animal were taken alive aboard ships, to have a constant source of fresh meat.

And this is what happened on the island of Fernando de Noronha during the moment of its discovery in the mid-1500's to about barely 40 years ago. Now this island, which has a small population of visiting sea turtles, has an important research center for these animals, plus a serious protection organization, in the Marine National Park. This animal, a hawksbill, is one of the most severely threatened and endangered turtles, as the dorsal shields were eagerly sought after, to make jewelry. We had the opportunity of seeing three animals being measured, weighed and those with tags, the number carefully read and annotated. The project is of Tamar, IBAMA.