The U.S. Postal Service desires to avoid wasting the turtles.
Introduced this week, the USPS unveiled a brand new Eternally Stamp design, devoted to the attention of endangered sea turtles — and the work to guard them.
“Sea turtles are majestic creatures who play an vital function in marine ecosystems,” David Camp, the USPS Texas 2 District supervisor, stated in an announcement.
“As you ship letters to your family and friends utilizing these stamps, we hope they are going to function a reminder that we are able to all do our half to assist save these unimaginable historic mariners.”
A dedication ceremony was held on the Texas State Aquarium, the place one of many stamp’s stars was current: Daisy, a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle who resides on the aquarium.
“We’re particularly humbled and proud that one in all our residents, Daisy… has been immortalized as an honoree on this new stamp sequence,” the aquarium shared on social media. “Particular because of the US Postal Service for highlighting this vital effort in sea turtle conservation nationwide.”
The ebook of stamps consists of six totally different designs, that includes totally different species which are depending on U.S. coastal waters for his or her habitat and survival.
Except for Daisy, the Kemp’s ridley turtle, they embrace: a black and white leatherback, an olive ridley, a inexperienced sea turtle, a mottled orange-brown loggerhead, and a brownish-yellow hawksbill.
All six of those turtle species are listed and guarded beneath the Endangered Species Act.
The stamps can be found in submit workplaces or on-line and value $12.24 for a ebook of 18 stamps. For collectors, the submit workplace additionally gives collectable postcards and pins, and commemorative “First Day of Subject” books, that includes the gathering’s June 11, 2024 launch date.
Past adorning one’s snail mail with these regal reptilians, the USPS is sharing extra in regards to the plight these creatures face — and what we are able to all do about it.
Sea turtles face quite a few threats throughout the globe, together with unintentionally being captured in fishing nets, habitat loss, synthetic lighting on seashores, boat strikes, and unlawful harvesting.
That’s to not point out the evolving threats of local weather change, like warming sands that hurt nesting seashores and alter circumstances for hatchlings.
“All sea turtle species within the U.S. are listed as endangered or threatened beneath the Endangered Species Act,” stated Dr. Shannon Bettridge, chief of the Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Division of NOAA Fisheries’ Workplace of Protected Sources.
“These species face a number of human threats, and their restoration is additional challenged by local weather change impacts.”
Whereas federal, state, and nonprofit companies are devoted to the conservation efforts of sea turtles, the USPS suggests a number of suggestions and precautions for turtle lovers — particularly those that reside on the nation’s coasts:
- Select moral seafood that’s caught in methods that don’t hurt or kill turtles
- Decrease beachfront lighting throughout nesting season
- Don’t disturb nesting websites
- Boat at secure speeds to assist cut back the chance of hanging a sea turtle
Sticking a postage stamp on an envelope received’t remove the threats sea turtles face on U.S. shores, however the thought is that it’s going to assist generate an added layer of appreciation for a species that wants it now greater than ever.
Bettridge continued: “The Shield Sea Turtles stamps are a long-lasting image to boost consciousness of the species’ plight and interact the general public of their conservation.”
And it doesn’t harm that they’re lovable.
Header picture courtesy of the U.S. Nationwide Park Service
