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Grade 6 Swiss international School<br />
<strong>Be</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Change</strong>!<br />
On 7 March, Handhu, an Olive Ridley<br />
turtle, got released back into the sea<br />
after suffering horrific injuries the year<br />
before. In their first IDU, grade 6 students<br />
adopted Handhu and this magazine<br />
reflects how they navigated the two<br />
critical concepts of fairness and<br />
development to protect turtles and<br />
economic growth in marine<br />
communities.
<strong>Be</strong> the <strong>Change</strong>!<br />
Did you know that Qatar is the home of a number of<br />
critically endangered marine species?<br />
Did you know that our every day actions can either<br />
destroy or protect these beautiful animals?<br />
By using their ATL skills in LLE and INS, our students<br />
have created this booklet to educate our school<br />
community about how we can develop in a sustainable<br />
way that is fair to all the residents of our planet.<br />
None of our learning would be possible<br />
without the generous support of Dadu<br />
Children’s Museum, <strong>The</strong> Olive Ridley<br />
Project and <strong>The</strong> Ministry of the<br />
Environment and Climate <strong>Change</strong> Qatar.<br />
Turtles are a keystone species.<br />
In order to fully understand<br />
their situation, we adopted an<br />
injured sea turtle.
Gathering Data<br />
In 1945, the life expectancy in Qatar<br />
was roughly 40 years old. Now, Qatari<br />
nationals look forward to a long and<br />
prosperous future due to the country’s<br />
commitment to development. So how<br />
do we support global development (a<br />
human right) without harming marine<br />
life?<br />
Let’s ask our experts!<br />
We were incredibly privileged to be able to speak to some<br />
of the best turtle experts in the world! Not only did Mr<br />
Jasim ( the director marine affairs MOECC) bring his team<br />
to educate us about the local situation, we also got a<br />
private tour of turtle hospital where our beloved Handhu<br />
was being treated. Dr Mariana and her team spent hours<br />
teaching us about turtle medicine and animal conservation<br />
in countries like <strong>The</strong> Maldives, Kenya, <strong>The</strong> Seychelles and<br />
even Oman.<br />
As you can imagine, we became experts at our ATLs of<br />
note taking, gathering important data and creating<br />
innovative solutions to real life problems.
Turtles: Older than<br />
Mankind - Anas and<br />
Ward<br />
<strong>The</strong> world would die without keystone<br />
species, meaning the earth needs them to<br />
keep ecosystems stable; one of those is going<br />
extinct. Want to know which one?<br />
Let’s take a deep dive to the world of<br />
turtles…<br />
Did you know that turtles have existed since the late permian<br />
epoch( 200-300 million years ago)? Turtles are fascinating creatures, but<br />
they have a longer history than us! In this article, you will learn about their<br />
history and how we can preserve them<br />
Sea turtles belong to the order Testudines, whose first specimens date<br />
back to about 220 million years ago, making them one of the most<br />
primitive groups of reptiles that still inhabit the earth. So to be more<br />
specific, let's take a deep dive into the world of Archelons.<br />
Archelons have walked on earth before mankind with the dinosaurs. Wait,<br />
does that make them dinosaurs? No, they are part of a group called<br />
Pantestudine (Pan-test-udine), while dinosaurs are part of a group called<br />
Archosauromorpha(Aka-soura-morpha) Still, they are related, living at the<br />
same time as being part of a clade called Sauria. <strong>The</strong> Archelons could<br />
weigh up to 3 light tons and ate meat such as jellyfish. Yet turtles are still<br />
here today. How did they live for so long? How are they still here? How did<br />
they become extinct after living for millions of years?
Turtles have existed since the late permian epoch, they evolved<br />
many times in different ways! <strong>The</strong> first appearance of turtles was<br />
a reptile called Eunotosaurus, This reptile is a Stem turtle. Stem<br />
turtles are animals that definitely relate to turtles but are not<br />
them. <strong>The</strong>n, there was a Eorhynchochelys. This reptile developed<br />
a shell under the stomach. <strong>The</strong>n, the Proganochelys came in. This<br />
reptile was the first who had a proper shell. Finally, the<br />
Desmatochelys was the first proper sea turtle to exist, it was<br />
huge. <strong>The</strong> total length of it was 2m. In Qatar, there are 5 species<br />
of sea turtles that can be observed.<br />
Archelons first appeared during the Triassic period, meaning they<br />
came at the same time as Dinosaurs, marine reptiles, lizards,<br />
crocodiles, and more. This was part of some of the early stages of<br />
life on earth. <strong>The</strong>se creatures lived through every life stage on<br />
earth until now, some of these stages were when the dinosaurs<br />
went extinct because of asteroids and volcanoes. So how did<br />
Archelons survive?<br />
Essentially, since their physical processes were so slow and<br />
required so little energy, they could survive on scarce resources<br />
during and after the dinosaur extinction. <strong>The</strong> conclusion is based<br />
on the discovery of a turtle fossil in North Dakota that goes back<br />
60 million to 65 million years. <strong>The</strong> specimen belongs to a turtle<br />
species that is assumed to have survived global extinction<br />
because fossils of the same species were discovered in rock layers<br />
deposited up to 75 million years ago.<br />
<strong>The</strong> global extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs, known<br />
as the K-T boundary because of its unique signature in rock layers,<br />
was most likely caused by a meteorite strike, though the exact<br />
sequence of events is still being debated. Some researchers<br />
believe the meteor triggered a series of world-shattering volcanic<br />
eruptions, which may or may not have been caused by the meteor.
<strong>The</strong> turtles, along with other burrowing and water-living animals,<br />
survived the dinosaur-killing whole-Earth extinction event, which<br />
wiped out 90 percent of land-living animal and plant species,<br />
including land-living turtles. So if Archelons were this strong why<br />
aren't they here now?<br />
Archelons as previously talked about lived many years on earth but<br />
went extinct. But why? <strong>The</strong> increasing threat of egg or hatchling<br />
predation by new marine or mammalian species may have led to the<br />
extinction of Archelon meaning turtle eggs have been attacked<br />
more and slowly disappeared after time. Wait if they were a<br />
keystone species how is the earth still here but what about the new<br />
turtle species Who are they and how did they come?<br />
Have you noticed the animals I<br />
chose?<br />
Predators are an animals worst enemy: a stronger species ready to<br />
feast on them and this is the same for sea turtle hatchling usually<br />
they hatch at night to hide from predators but this could be<br />
changed from light pollution. To understand why this is bad, turtles<br />
follow the moon that points to the ocean meaning other lights<br />
could distort their path and could bring attention to other<br />
predators such as crabs, birds and more meaning less survival rate<br />
but a question is: why don’t they just find a new nesting place?<br />
So far in our generation there are Hawksbills,Greens,Olive<br />
ridleys,Logger head, Leather back and the extinct ones Archelons<br />
and Toxochelyidae’s now as said the strongest sea turtles<br />
archelons went extinct so what about thes ones well they arent in a<br />
good state either. Wait so how much sea turtles are there left?<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are around 6.5 million now your first thought is that theres<br />
alot of turtles left are you sure though?<br />
Billions of humans.<br />
50 Billion birds.<br />
4500 species of crabs and more…
When a turtle lays an egg, the gender of the turtle depends on the<br />
temperature. If the temperature is 27 C or less, then the turtle will be<br />
a male, but if the temperature is 31 C or more, then the turtle will be a<br />
female. To recognise the gender of a turtle you can: Look at the sea<br />
turtle's tail size. Male sea turtles have a longer tail that extends past<br />
the edge of the carapace, while females have a shorter tail that barely<br />
reaches the carapace. Or Look at the sea turtle's cloaca. This is an<br />
opening or vent on the underside of the tail. Male sea turtles have a<br />
cloaca that is closer to the tip of the tail, while females have a cloaca<br />
that is closer to the body.<br />
For thousands of years, turtles have used the same nesting<br />
beaches because the temperature is just right and the eggs<br />
won’t wash away. If we destroy a nesting beach, the turtles will<br />
just stop laying or lay eggs in the road that has replaced their<br />
nesting area.<br />
Nesting is a complicated thing. How it works is that when a<br />
mom lays its eggs the turtles when they hatch they memorize<br />
their beach to grow up and lay their eggs in the same place -<br />
meaning if we can calculate when they hatch we can know<br />
when they will come back to watch or learn more about them.<br />
Not just that: in the process of them growing by the time<br />
they come back to their nesting place the might be new<br />
buildings that could harm the mom or the new eggs<br />
This is why you should never interfere with hatchlings or try<br />
to “help” them get to the sea. <strong>The</strong> baby turtles need to move<br />
or they will not remember their beach for when it’s time to<br />
lay their eggs.<br />
This little one will always remember the beach where she<br />
hatched<br />
DID YOU KNOW?<br />
QATAR PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN PROTECTING ENDANGERED<br />
SEA TURTLES. EVERY YEAR HAWKSBILL TURTLES COME TO NEST<br />
IN FUWAIRIT AND THE MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND<br />
CLIMATE CHANGE HAS RESCUED 30C00 EGGS SO FAR.<br />
SADLY, ONLY 1 IN 1000 TURTLES LIVE TO ADULTHOOD AND A<br />
HAWKSBILL ONLY STARTS LAYING EGGS AT THE AGE OF 25!<br />
THESE MAGNIFICENT CREATURES THAT SURVIVED THE DINOSAURS<br />
MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO SURVIVE OUR PLASTIC POLLUTION,<br />
GREENHOUSE GASES AND CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS.<br />
SO HOW DO WE BALANCE FAIRNESS AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT?<br />
KEEP READING TO FIND OUT MORE!
Sea turtle rescue in<br />
Qatar - Jian and Rita<br />
Sea turtles are one of the most<br />
imperiled animals on earth. In Qatar,<br />
there are an estimated 3,000 sea<br />
turtles that have been stranded in the<br />
Persian Gulf. <strong>The</strong>se endangered<br />
reptiles need our help!<br />
Sea turtles are keystone species ( Important species for their<br />
ecosystem: Turtles help keep beach dunes, the seafloor and<br />
coral reefs healthy, keep jellyfish populations balanced, and<br />
more.) in the marine ecosystem. <strong>The</strong>re are 7 types of sea<br />
turtles, 4 of which you can find in Qatar; these are: green<br />
turtles, olive ridley turtles, loggerhead turtles, and<br />
hawksbills .Although sea turtles lack teeth, their jaws have<br />
evolved into custom "beaks" that are tailored to their specific<br />
food. <strong>The</strong>y have skin-covered eardrums but not noticeable<br />
ears. <strong>The</strong>y have an excellent sense of smell and hear best at<br />
low pitches. Although they have good underwater eyesight,<br />
they are shortsighted on land. <strong>The</strong>y are very well-suited to<br />
living at sea thanks to their sleek bodies and big flippers. Sea<br />
turtles, however, still have strong attachments to the land,<br />
due to them having to lay eggs.
Why Do Turtles Get Stranded ?<br />
turtles were injured. (Information from Olive Ridley<br />
Project).<br />
Sea turtles are one of the most endangered species on<br />
earth. Population numbers have decreased by more than<br />
95 percent since they were first described in the early<br />
1800s. <strong>The</strong>y used to be common sightings along the coasts<br />
of Qatar and other Gulf countries, but are now slowly<br />
disappearing due to a variety of factors including poaching<br />
for their meat, illegal fishing, entanglements in plastics and<br />
coastal development.<br />
Sea Turtles get stranded by getting entangled in ghost<br />
gear (Abandoned fishing nets, hooks etc.). Or, they could be<br />
attacked by a predator, and drift towards the shore. Most<br />
turtles get stunned by cold weather, and are paralyzed for<br />
hours. Many turtle strandings are caused by human<br />
activity e.g vessel strikes, entanglement etc. 37 dead and<br />
injured sea turtles were found at the northern Aegean and<br />
Sea of Marmara between 2010 and 2017, of which 34 were<br />
loggerhead sea turtles and 3 were green sea turtles. <strong>The</strong><br />
frequency of stranding was 4.62 turtles per year. All green<br />
sea turtles were dead, whereas 16 of the loggerhead sea<br />
If you find a sea turtle stranded on the beach,<br />
call the Ministry call center (184) to report<br />
your observation and findings. Or, you could<br />
call the national helpline for turtles (189). If<br />
you see a hatchling emerging, do not interfere<br />
with it. Switch off any bright lights and stay<br />
clear of the path to the ocean. Do not pick<br />
them up with your bare hands, or bring them<br />
towards the ocean. You could pass germs and<br />
bacteria to the baby hatchling with your bare<br />
hands. Hatchlings need to imprint where they<br />
were born, so they can come back later. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
need to warm up their muscles for the big<br />
swim they have after they get into the ocean.
We have been lucky enough to partner with <strong>The</strong> Olive<br />
Ridley Project. Out of 7 known turtle species, 5 are<br />
present in the Maldives, <strong>The</strong> two most common are the<br />
hawksbill and the green turtles. Those sea turtles are<br />
endangered, that's why Dr. Mariana Fragoso (Resident<br />
veterinary surgeon) and her team are saving the sea<br />
turtles from immediate extinction. <strong>The</strong>y are raising<br />
awareness by posting on social media and giving<br />
presentations to schools and the general public. So, as<br />
individuals, we can also save the turtles by reducing the<br />
debris that can be eaten by the turtles.<br />
Moreover, people not only in the<br />
Maldives but also in Qatar are<br />
responsible for saving the turtles. For<br />
example, the Environmental Science<br />
Center in Qatar University, in<br />
collaboration with the Protection and<br />
Wildlife Department team, executed<br />
the Qatar Turtle Project. <strong>The</strong> project<br />
is funded by Qatar Energy and<br />
monitored by the Ministry of<br />
Environment and Climate <strong>Change</strong>.<br />
This project targets all Qatar beaches<br />
and specifically in Fuwairit, where they<br />
helped release more than 31,000<br />
hawksbill baby turtles to protect<br />
endangered species. Last but not<br />
least, it is everyone’s responsibility in<br />
Qatar, be it residents or locals, to help<br />
the authorities implement the plan<br />
and make it successful.<br />
As David Attenborough said “ Every breath of air we<br />
take, every mouthful of food that we take, comes from the<br />
natural world. And if we damage the natural world, we<br />
damage ourselves.” Protecting sea turtles is essential for<br />
a healthy ocean. Let's put our effort together and make<br />
sure sea turtles exist in our ocean for future generations.
Sauvons Les Tortues Marines En Voie De<br />
Disparition De L'extinction !!<br />
Les scientifiques ont passé des décennies à tenter de<br />
résoudre les mystères de créatures incroyables qui<br />
suscitent la curiosité. Savez-vous qui ils sont? Tortues de<br />
mer! Ils sont extrêmement<br />
importants pour notre<br />
planète pour de<br />
nombreuses raisons.<br />
Sur 7 espèces de tortues<br />
connues, 5 sont présentes<br />
aux Maldives. Les deux plus<br />
courantes sont la tortue<br />
imbriqué et la tortue verte.<br />
Ces tortues marines sont Endangered turtle in Persian Gulf<br />
en voie de disparition, c'est<br />
pourquoi le Dr Mariana<br />
Fragoso (vétérinaire résidents ) et son équipe sauvent les<br />
tortues marines d'une extinction immédiate. Ils sensibilisent<br />
en publiant sur les réseaux sociaux et en faisant des<br />
présentations dans les écoles et le grand public. Ainsi, en<br />
tant qu’individus, nous pouvons également sauver les<br />
tortues en réduisant les débris qu’elles peuvent manger.<br />
De plus, ce sont les habitants des Maldives mais aussi<br />
du Qatar qui sont responsables de la sauvegarde des<br />
tortues. Par exemple, le Centre des sciences de<br />
l'environnement de l’université du Qatar, en<br />
collaboration avec l'équipe du Département de la<br />
protection et de la faune, a exécuté le projet Qatar<br />
Turtle. Le projet est financé par Qatar Energy et<br />
suivi par le ministère de l'Environnement et du<br />
<strong>Change</strong>ment climatique. Ce projet cible toutes les<br />
plages du Qatar et plus particulièrement celle de<br />
Fuwairit, où ils ont contribué à relacher plus de 31<br />
000 bébés tortues imbriqués pour protéger les<br />
espèces menacés. Enfin et surtout, il est de la<br />
responsabilité de chacun au Qatar, qu’il soit<br />
résident ou local, d’aider les autorités a mettre en<br />
œuvre le plan et a en faire un succès.Comme l’a dit<br />
David Attenborough : « Chaque respiration que nous<br />
prenons, chaque bouchée de nourriture que nous prenons<br />
vient du monde naturel. Et si nous endommageons le monde<br />
naturel, nous nous endommageant nous-mêmes. » La<br />
protection des tortues marines est essentielle pour un<br />
océan sain. Unissons nos efforts et veillons à ce que les<br />
tortues marines existent dans notre océan pour les<br />
générations futures.
What are we doing<br />
to our turtles? -<br />
Nathan and Vittoria<br />
In the photo, nurse Tristan treats Handhu with<br />
antibiotics. This article will explain more about how<br />
Handhu ended up in hospital and what dangers he<br />
will face in the wild<br />
For over 100 million years, sea turtles have covered huge<br />
distances in many of the world's oceans. <strong>The</strong>y are extremely<br />
important because they have a crucial role in the balance of<br />
marine life. Humans have a role in their chosen activities to<br />
protect them from harm, before it's too late!<br />
Firstly, many turtles are harmed by human activity of fishing. For<br />
example, fishing nets accidentally catch sea turtles and make<br />
them suffer and could potentially lead to their death. Turtles need<br />
air to breathe, as they are air-breathing reptiles. When they are<br />
caught in the fishing nets for too long, they drown because they<br />
are unable to come up from the surface for air. <strong>The</strong> main effect on<br />
this is that human activity is reducing turtle numbers. ‘’ Trapped<br />
in a net, the turtles are dragged through the water with no access<br />
to the surface to breathe, causing them to drown. It is estimated<br />
that some 4,600 sea turtles are killed by fishing nets hooks every<br />
year in the U.S. waters” - Smithsonian Oceans
This story also connects to a turtle called Handhu .<br />
Handgun was severely disentangled and rescuers knew he<br />
was in a terrible condition as there was a deep laceration<br />
to his right left flipper. Luckily he has recovered slowly and<br />
is still getting treated. <strong>The</strong> nurses are aiming for Handu to<br />
have a happy successful life now that he is treated with the<br />
right care.<br />
Secondly, an additional reason why human activity is<br />
harming turtles is because of illegal trade in selling turtle<br />
shells. For example, turtle shells are very popular and<br />
people like to buy them. Evidence supporting this is that in<br />
many places, turtle shells are used to make jewelry and<br />
other luxury items to sell to tourists and this is<br />
endangering turtles. A solution for this problem is to be a<br />
valid customer and know the consciences for the innocent<br />
turtles out there.<br />
Moreover, a further reason that shows human activity is<br />
harming the population of turtles is climate change.<br />
Climate change is causing the earth to heat up. For<br />
example, sand is also heating up and this is impacting. Male<br />
and female turtle hatchlings change as a result of the sand<br />
temperature. If the sand is hotter the gender is most likely<br />
to be female. This means that the balance of sea turtles<br />
will be more biased towards females and this could lead to<br />
reducing turtle population in the future.<br />
Finally, an increase in severe storms is another climate<br />
change problem affecting turtles. For example, hurricanes<br />
and tropical cyclones could make the problem of beach<br />
erosion happen faster. This means that sea turtles' nesting<br />
habitat are more likely to be flooded and this means that<br />
nesting success rates will be lowered. This would endanger<br />
turtles even in the future.<br />
Even though Handhu was rescued in the Maldives, the<br />
same issues affect turtles in Qatar.<br />
Our beautiful country Qatar is home to 5 out of 7 turtle<br />
species, but they are dying because of our actions. Now<br />
250,000 turtles die per year and you probably didn’t know<br />
that only 0.1% of turtles survive to nesting age - Dr<br />
Mariana Olive Ridley Project. If you can make these minor<br />
changes to your everyday life you will impact Qatar and the<br />
turtles greatly.<br />
What are these changes? You might be asking yourself,<br />
they are small changes like turning of lights when not in<br />
the room to save electricity or not wasting your food<br />
because when you waste food it releases a greenhouse gas<br />
called methane which is 82 times worse than Co2. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
are small changes that will directly affect Qatar and other<br />
countries with vast turtle populations.
But really there is something that<br />
is such an easy fix, its plastic,<br />
plastic is such a big problem<br />
because it does not decompose<br />
which means it lasts for more<br />
than 500 years and plastic bags<br />
look like jellyfish which is a turtles<br />
main source of food.<br />
Plastic Isn’t all bad, it is<br />
used everywhere in the<br />
medical field such as<br />
syringes those are made<br />
of plastic and there are<br />
pacemakers which save<br />
600,000 people per year<br />
and then some<br />
bulletproof armor is also<br />
made in plastic which so<br />
far has saved more than<br />
3000 and now in Europe<br />
only 3% of food is<br />
delivered spoilt because<br />
they are wrapped in<br />
plastic. Unfortunately, we<br />
waste so much of it and this lands in the<br />
ocean.<br />
If these small, small changes are made then the Qatari<br />
marine ecosystem will be in a much better shape and you<br />
will see a beautiful ecosystem thriving below water, the<br />
beaches will not be trash everywhere and it will be a silky<br />
sand going through your toes. Just please take these<br />
small changes into consideration.
Plastics: Good or Evil? - Jenna and Johann<br />
Did you know that more than 5 trillion pieces of plastic are<br />
floating around our oceans? Around the world, plastic is used<br />
in many different ways, some bad,<br />
some good. Plastic can be used to<br />
save peoples lives. But it can also be<br />
used to harm many things such as<br />
marine life. Why can’t we take 5<br />
minutes to clean up after ourselves<br />
and recycle? Or simply avoid using<br />
plastic?<br />
Turtles are very important to our<br />
survival and without them our<br />
oceans will suffer. Turtles are<br />
endangered for many horrifying<br />
reasons but the main reason is<br />
PLASTIC. For instance, ingestion of plastic is one of the<br />
critical reasons that make marine animals starve, choke and<br />
die… When marine animals ingest the plastic the plastic<br />
doesn’t degrade making the animal feel full. When this<br />
happens the animal will not eat which leads to starvation and<br />
death.<br />
Don’t you wonder where all this plastic we dispose of in the<br />
trash goes? Well, it goes into landfills and then straight to the<br />
ocean. Once it reaches the ocean it stays there forever until<br />
an animal eats it or gets entangled in it. <strong>The</strong>n, it can lead to<br />
death or starvation, injuries and harm to the animal. So do<br />
you really want to kill animals with our trash?<br />
Plastic is an integral part of our<br />
lives.Plastic is so cheap and easy to<br />
make that we use it all the time.<br />
Unfortunately, it’s not even recycled in<br />
a proper manner. About 91% of plastic<br />
is thrown away. So where does all that<br />
plastic go? Every year, over 17 trillion<br />
pounds (7.72 trillion kilograms) of<br />
plastic are washed into the<br />
oceans.<strong>The</strong>re are five huge areas in<br />
This image was taken from Doha News<br />
the world’s oceans that are a “soup” of<br />
floating trash. One of these areas, the<br />
Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is three times as large as<br />
France.Plastic pollution has particularly harmed marine life<br />
and their ecosystem .<strong>The</strong>se magnificent creatures are among<br />
the oldest species on the planet Earth.You may be shocked to<br />
know that themain reason that the sea turtles are<br />
endangered species is because of plastic pollution.People are<br />
dumping plastic everywhere and it is reaching the oceans.Sea<br />
turtles and other marine animals are mistaking plastic as food<br />
and are consuming it.<strong>The</strong> plastic damages their internal<br />
organs which leads to starvation,eventually death. Do we say<br />
goodbye to plastic or sea turtles?
But if we still need plastic then there<br />
are so many other ways you can<br />
reuse plastic instead of throwing it<br />
in the trash. For example, making<br />
jewelry, because in the Oliver Ridley<br />
project they take the nets and<br />
plastic in the ocean that harmed<br />
animals and use it to make jewelry.<br />
Afterwards, they sell them and with<br />
the money they buy medications for<br />
the turtles. Another way is to take<br />
your plastic and put it into a<br />
recycling bin. Of course we can’t<br />
take plastic entirely but we can<br />
always reuse it!<br />
But of all the bad things plastic does<br />
there are also good things. Like,<br />
plastic saves lives. Plastic is used for<br />
police shields and armor/protection.<br />
As plastic is not biodegradable it is<br />
very hard to break it and can<br />
protect you. It is also a lot cheaper<br />
than leather, cotton, paper, etc and<br />
it can keep things good for longer.<br />
And, that is good because if you are poor or cannot<br />
afford your food going bad or buying big bags of<br />
groceries then you can keep the food you do have good<br />
for 5-10 days just by wrapping it in plastic wrap. Plastic<br />
wrap is also much cheaper than aluminum foil and is<br />
better than aluminum foil.<br />
Two experts from the<br />
Ministry of Environment for<br />
Qatar, Jassim Mohd Lari<br />
(Head of the marine wildlife<br />
section) and Mohammed E.<br />
Ahmed (marine biologist)<br />
visited our school to raise<br />
awareness just for turtles<br />
and explained to us why we<br />
need to help and how. It used<br />
to be 1 in a 1000 baby turtles<br />
making it to adulthood but<br />
now it is “10 in 1000 baby<br />
turtles making it to<br />
adulthood”.<strong>The</strong>se are acts we<br />
need to continue to do,<br />
raising awareness, helping<br />
the endangered and<br />
reducing, reusing and<br />
recycling.<br />
In conclusion, we can’t<br />
always get rid of the problem<br />
but we can always make it better. Need an easy solution?<br />
Well just start recycling and stop harming marine life and<br />
leaving ghost nets and plastic in the water. As MYP<br />
students we should be able to reduce and reuse. “ <strong>The</strong><br />
human race will regret it if we don’t act on plastic now”<br />
Said by David Attenborough.
Is your boat helping or harming? - Ali<br />
While Handhu was in hospital, he made friends with another patient called Aïcha. Aïcha<br />
was a victim of a boat strike and is still in recovery after losing two flippers.<br />
Aïcha is doing well after sustaining<br />
horrific injuries. Her wounds were<br />
treated with surgery, cold laser<br />
therapy and manuka honey. This<br />
brave little girl is now swimming in<br />
the sea with the help of her medical<br />
team.<br />
ONE OF OUR KEY VALUES IS GRIT OR RESILIENCE. AÏCHA IS AN<br />
AMAZING EXAMPLE OF DETERMINATION AND COURAGE. SHE IS ALSO<br />
SO LOVING TO OTHER TURTLES WHO ARE FEELING DEPRESSED.
Why should we care about turtles?<br />
We should care about turtles because turtles are a<br />
really important aspect for the ocean. Turtles help maintain<br />
coral reef production all the way up to transporting all the<br />
essential nutrients that the beaches, coastal dunes and<br />
oceans need. Without turtles, the ocean would not have the<br />
ability to function on its own. <strong>The</strong>refore, it is very important<br />
that we protect all 7 species of sea turtles.<br />
Can I tell you a story about a turtle that the Olive Ridley<br />
Project saved? <strong>The</strong>ir name is Aisha. Aisha’s gender/sex is<br />
unknown, but we only know that she was found floating at<br />
the Dhaalu Atoll resort. <strong>The</strong> resort staff rescued the turtle<br />
as fast as they can. <strong>The</strong> resort staff called the Olive Ridley<br />
Project. <strong>The</strong>re was a lot of turbulence and there was a<br />
storm, so they had to make a 2 day trip. For the 1st day, the<br />
turtle stayed at the resort. <strong>The</strong> 2nd day, Aisha was<br />
transported to the resort on November 4th, 2023. Aisha<br />
suffered severe trauma to her front left flipper. Aisha also<br />
has the front right flipper’s humerus bone completely<br />
exposed and is also currently undergoing critical care<br />
wherever she is injured.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are many ways that turtles die. One of these ways is<br />
boat strikes. 40% of turtles die from boat strikes every<br />
year. <strong>The</strong> turtles get hit by boats because of many factors;<br />
for example, when a turtle is surfacing to bask or get some<br />
air, a boat might be coming where the turtle is, and, when a<br />
turtle is breathing or basking, the turtle is vulnerable, so,<br />
the body or the propeller of the boat strikes the turtle, and<br />
the turtle is severely injured from the propeller. <strong>The</strong> speed<br />
and power of the propeller or boat also determines the<br />
intensity of the injury. .<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are only some solutions to this saddening problem. A<br />
solution to boat strikes on turtles is that we could slow<br />
down when a turtle is spotted basking or breathing in air. We<br />
should also attempt to avoid driving over seagrass beds<br />
because turtles sometimes hide there in case a predator is<br />
hunting it. Under the seagrass beds, there might be a turtle<br />
and the propeller might even kill the turtle instantly, which<br />
has happened many times in the ocean. We should also stay<br />
in channels of water to make the rates of hitting a turtle<br />
lower by a lot.<br />
You should always attempt to stop your boat when a turtle is<br />
basking or breathing near your area and let the turtle bring<br />
itself down after it is done with breathing or basking. We<br />
should always remember to not go too fast on your boat. If<br />
we do these things, we will be able to stop boat strikes and<br />
we might be able to put a stop to the current situation that<br />
is happening in the ocean. I hope this world can put an end to<br />
the boat strikes and at least lower the amount of turtle<br />
deaths by boat strikes from 40% to at least 15% to at least<br />
help out the turtles a bit.
AISHA’S AMPUTATION SITES ARE ALMOST<br />
FULLY HEALED. SHE CAN SWIM AND DIVE BUT<br />
THE DOCTORS NEED TO OBSERVE HOW SHE<br />
HANDLES STRONG CURRENTS WITH ONLY TWO<br />
LIMBS BEFORE THE DECISION IS MADE TO<br />
RELEASE HER BACK INTO THE WILD.<br />
IF YOU WANT TO DONATE TOWARDS HER<br />
MEDICAL COSTS, PLEASE GO TO<br />
OLIVERIDLEYPROJECT.ORG
Can technology help<br />
turtles? - Nicolas and Mahd<br />
Have you ever wondered how modern technology can affect<br />
turtles?You might have not but I have.Turtles are<br />
magnificent species so we need to know how to save them<br />
so we need to know how technology can affect them saving<br />
them or harming them.<strong>The</strong>refore let's get right into it.<br />
Have you ever wondered what the world would look like from the<br />
perspective of a turtle? Contaminated soil, polluted air, a soup of<br />
trash floating in the seas - the world has changed dramatically with<br />
the advancement of industrialization and modernization but is<br />
technology bad indeed?<br />
<strong>The</strong> world has many different things that prove that we have come a<br />
long way from just sticks and stones. but what effect does it have on<br />
others, not only humans. But marine animals and all other creatures<br />
of this world? For one the humans have made plastic, plastic can be<br />
very grim for marine animals including sea turtles. But what can it do<br />
to help sea turtles?<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are all sorts of machines, devices and other gadgets that us<br />
humans use to make us feel healthy and strong. But did you know they<br />
can also help sea turtles? <strong>The</strong> common x-ray is used to see the sea<br />
turtle's bones and other parts of its body. <strong>The</strong>re is also an app that<br />
multiple people use when they find a hurt/stranded/stuck sea turtle<br />
and the app is called Conservation AI which uses AI to help a sea<br />
turtle in a much easier way.
To act fast we will need your help.For you to donate to<br />
ORP and adopt a turtle which you can donate the money<br />
for the ORP to use your money to help the turtles get<br />
better and raise awareness or just learn about them and<br />
do a beach cleanup.No matter what you do it all helps so it<br />
doesn't matter if all you do is pick up a piece of garbage<br />
every day it all counts. This technology is great and all<br />
but we don't have it in our hands everywhere so is this<br />
just a prediction or is this technology taking play right<br />
now<br />
<strong>The</strong> cool thing is that the technology mentioned below<br />
is being used now and is currently developing to be even<br />
better.So now let's move on to the main point, how does<br />
technology affect turtles?<br />
Technology these days is fantastic it will be able to help<br />
or harm badly turtles affecting them greatly so let's<br />
look at both sides.Good:modern technology can help<br />
turtles by tracking them throughout the ocean with<br />
satellites allowing you to see where they nest and lay<br />
their eggs after that you can protect that area. Another<br />
good way to help turtles with modern technology is that it<br />
allows making riskier surgeries possible by using lasers to<br />
cut off infected parts of the body quicker and less painfully<br />
and Let go of trapped turtles for example every year many<br />
turtles get trapped and drown in the trawl nets that<br />
shrimp catching boats drag across the ocean floor (thanks<br />
to humans again) but now we have developed a way to set<br />
them free.This happens by putting metal bars in the middle<br />
of the net while the shrimp flow right through them the<br />
turtles (and other big animals) get stuck so then are<br />
brought out through a flap in the trawl net.<br />
This technology can<br />
be found almost<br />
everywhere but<br />
mostly in the<br />
maldive because<br />
there there is an<br />
organization known<br />
as the ORP (Olive<br />
Ridley Project)<br />
whose goal is to<br />
save turtles.<strong>The</strong>y<br />
use a lot of<br />
technology such as<br />
satellite trackers to<br />
find and figure out<br />
the turtles swim path nesting location and hatching<br />
location and the doppler wich is a device used to hear a<br />
turtle's heart beat or more specifically the blood flow.With<br />
that said let's move on into the conclusion.<br />
“We need to work with nature not<br />
against it” (David Attenborough)
A Turtle’s Viewpoint<br />
on Global Warming -<br />
Ammar and Hugo<br />
Are you aware that you are a culprit involved in, not one but<br />
many crimes? You are destroying your own home and the<br />
home of billions of creatures. Especially that of sea turtles.<br />
As a hawksbill living in the Arabian gulf, I am experiencing<br />
severe climate change. <strong>Be</strong>cause of you, it’s about to get<br />
worse.<br />
To start with, you humans are burning fossil fuels for your own benefit,<br />
releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Thus trapping the<br />
sun’s heat and making the globe hotter. Deforestation aids global<br />
warming. When forests are demolished, carbon dioxide escapes into the<br />
atmosphere, reinforcing what is becoming a prison of heat. <strong>The</strong> middle<br />
east is among the places on the planet with very few greenery.<br />
According to Jhon Mcmanus, geographical.co.uk, “Recent scientific<br />
research predicts that, by 2070, the Gulf will experience heat waves<br />
beyond the limits of human tolerance”. If that’s what will happen to the<br />
land, what will happen to the seas, my home?<br />
74,000 years ago, Qatar wasn’t a peninsula surrounded by the Persian<br />
gulf. Global warming elevated the seas. 6000 years ago, the Persian gulf<br />
came to existence. So did the nesting beaches of the hawksbill<br />
population. But, the sea isn’t stopping there. Soon, our nesting grounds<br />
will be engulfed by the sea. Sea turtles will lose the privilege of nesting<br />
on beaches isolated from human civilization. Especially hawksbills.<br />
That’s not the only problem.
Mr Jassim Mohammed Lari taught grade 6 exactly<br />
how temperature affects our eggs. If it is less than<br />
29 C, you will get males. If it’s over 35, you will get females<br />
but ideally the temperature will fluctuate and you will get<br />
both.<br />
Endangered turtle nesting on a landing strip in Maldives<br />
If a turtle was born where a hotel is being built, she will still<br />
try to lay her eggs there. So turtles will lay eggs in hotels,<br />
airports or busy roads because they will built over the<br />
beach. <strong>The</strong>re is not just one turtle laying eggs but lots of<br />
turtles.<br />
This is why humans must stop wasting food and fossil fuels.<br />
Global warming will cause our nesting beaches to flood.<br />
We need YOUR help!
Can Sunshine Make<br />
a Difference?<br />
ATL: generate creative solutions for<br />
authentic problems.<br />
It started as a joke between friends.<br />
What if? What if we can use the floor to<br />
stop climate change? What if we put<br />
solar panels on the floor…<br />
Luckily, Mr AlGammal and his friends<br />
decided to try and make this crazy<br />
dream a reality and their idea became a<br />
company called Sunpave that created<br />
walkable solar tiles for Al Thumama<br />
stadium.<br />
AÏCHA THE TURTLE TAUGHT US A LOT ABOUT GRIT AND RESILIENCE. MR<br />
ALGAMMAL IS A PARENT OF A GRADE 6 STUDENT AND HE KINDLY SHARED<br />
HIS STORY ABOUT HOW RESILIENCE AND CREATIVITY TAUGHT HIM TO<br />
OVERCOME SOME MAJOR CHALLENGES.<br />
Mohammad AlGammal holds an innovative solution to help our turtles
Climate change threatens every living creature in Qatar.<br />
Unfortunately, solar panels take up a LOT of space. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
also need to be made of strong stuff to withstand the<br />
desert winds and searing heat. This could make this option<br />
ridiculously expensive.<br />
Mr AlGammal works in the technical engineering<br />
department of Texas A&M University and has over 14 years<br />
experience in mechanical design, simulation and project<br />
management. He also has a group of wonderful friends and<br />
colleagues who are passionate about improving the world<br />
we live in.<br />
By working together, they designed a floor tile that<br />
creates solar energy and reduces pollution and climate<br />
change. This innovation earned them multiple awards and<br />
they got to showcase their design during the Qatar World<br />
Cup!<br />
Sunpave won first place in the Sustainable Technologies/<br />
Future Energy category in the “Create the Future Design<br />
Contest”.<br />
When I asked Mr AlGammal what message he had for my<br />
students, he shared one of his biggest challenges: the tiles<br />
are made out of materials like glass and it took a lot of<br />
work and struggle to get the materials to be strong<br />
enough to handle a lot of weight and impact. Plus, the solar<br />
cells are incredibly fragile and shatter very easily. But the<br />
team did not give up despite huge challenges and lots of<br />
failed attempts.<br />
<strong>The</strong> tiles are now strong enough to handle fire trucks!<br />
<strong>The</strong>y can also be placed in train tracks and marine vessels.<br />
This will definitely make a difference to our cold blooded<br />
friends like Handhu.<br />
Many of us don’t realise that “comfort” is an enemy. We<br />
need challenge and failure to reach our full potential. We<br />
have to dream big and find friends who will work with us<br />
and we mustn’t expect instant success.<br />
WE ARE INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL FOR MR<br />
ALGAMMAL FOR SHARING HIS STORY<br />
WITH US. HIS SUCCESS IS A RESULT OF<br />
GRIT AND INTEGRITY AND IT INSPIRES<br />
ALL OF US TO DREAM BIG DREAMS.
Author Name<br />
If you<br />
enjoyed<br />
this<br />
magazine,<br />
please<br />
visit and<br />
support<br />
the Olive<br />
Ridley<br />
Project<br />
Adopt an<br />
injured turtle