COAST GUARD RECOVERED SEA TURTLE EGGS AND RELEASED TURTLE HATCHLINGS INTO THE SEA

The collective effort of Coast Guard personnel attached to Life-Saving Posts Mirissa, Hikkaduwa, Moragolla, Panadura, Mount Lavinia, Dehiwala, Wellewatta recovered 2526 numbers of Sea turtle eggs from places close to their natural habitat during the period from 13^th to 19^th March 2023. Recovered eggs being conserved at the locations near respective lifesaving posts. Meanwhile, SLCG released a total no of 2621 sea turtle hatchlings into the sea from Mirissa, Dehiwala, Hikkaduwa, Panadura, Wellewatta, and Galle Face during the same period.

Under the Coast Guard Turtle Conservation Project (CGTCP), Coast Guard played a positive role in helping to protect and preserve sea turtle populations. Sea turtles are a vulnerable species and their eggs and hatchlings can be at risk from a variety of threats, including human activity, predation, and environmental factors. By recovering the sea turtle eggs and releasing the hatchlings into the sea, the Coast Guard likely helped to give these turtles a better chance at survival.

So far in 2023, the Sri Lankan Coast Guard conserved 39770 turtle eggs and released 8043 hatchlings into the sea.