The Exploitation of the Endangered

by Cam Heffernan

The Cayman Islands are home to the famous Cayman Turtle Centre for Green Sea turtles, the largest land-based tourist attraction in the world. However, beneath the beauty of engaging with such a beautiful sea creature, there is a terrifying underbelly where the turtle farm breeds and sells turtle meat to locals.

The Cayman Island Turtle Centre harbors hundreds of endangered green sea turtles and welcomes about 200,000 visitors yearly. However, with consistent claims of cruelty, a controversy has erupted surrounding this tourist trap and whether this center is protecting or harming this species.

In addition to the turtles being bred and sold as meat to locals, they are held in tanks much too small for their safety. The overcrowding creates a violent environment where the turtles are “constantly fighting to get to the surface to breathe,” leaving injuries and bite marks, according to former employee Amy Souster.

These are evidently cruel conditions; however, is selling the meat a productive way to protect the species? The Cayman locals culturally revere these turtles, and their meat is a delicacy. Farming these turtles in a controlled environment lowers the demand for poachers to go into the wild and capture wild sea turtles.

India Narcisse-Elliott, the Chief Marketing Director at the Turtle Centre, claims all of their efforts are dedicated to protecting wild turtles. She asserts that the center offers a learning opportunity for the public to better understand the endangered species and that a captive-bred source of turtle meat will lead to long-term protection of wild turtles.

The locals on the Cayman Islands won’t change their culture, so if this conservatory didn’t exist, poachers would turn to the endangered wild population of green sea turtles. With this turtle farm, the center is able to control the amount of meat going to the locals, thus protecting the wild population.

Despite this twisted logic, could Ms. Elliot have a point? Can this turtle farming help save this species? For this to be true, the turtle farm will need a serious revamping to portray itself as a center made to “serve” the sea turtles they are farming.

There is a gross misunderstanding between the tourist and the center. On the one hand, people think they are visiting to see turtles living in refuge when in reality, it is quite the opposite. The center is a romanticized slaughterhouse, where these turtles are used as tourist traps and meat. As tourists, we must reconcile with the truth during our travels.