Let me tell you a little something about myself…
I love turtles. I don’t know why, except that I’ve always had a fondness for all things reptile (more on that later). I got ‘into’ turtles after meeting Mr. Right and getting a box turtle for a pet. I now have three of them, and can tell you all about their little personalities, likes and dislikes, etc.
Going back even further than my love for turtles is my love for predators. I always watched the nature shows hoping the jaguar’s hunt was successful. T-Rex was my hero (this was long before the scavenger vs. hunter debate reared its ugly head) and of course I rooted for the shark in Jaws. Who didn’t?
You can imagine my dismay when about a year ago I stumbled upon a nature show with some incredible footage of a tiger shark in its natural habitat. Guess what the tiger shark’s favorite food is? You guessed it, sea turtle.
Who to root for? The beautiful, graceful sea turtle? Or the torpedo fast killer? It was disturbing to watch to say the least (more emotional than any of that boo-hoo orphans starving overseas footage) but I understood each animals’ place in the natural scheme of things.
Well, once again I feel conflicted, and once again, a sea turtle is involved.
I most certainly identify myself as a feminist and am opposed to sexual harassment, objectifying women, sexual stereotypes, etc. but if one, just one, tiny helpless baby sea turtle is saved due to the Wildcoast ad campaign, then I’m all for it!
Wildcoast is a San Diego-based environmental group who bought $30,000 worth of Mexican advertising on billboards and busses to get the message out: eating sea turtle eggs does not enhance sexual performance. Millions of sea turtle eggs are deposited on Oaxaca state beaches each year and have long been treasured as a delicacy by humans.
Many are eaten by men wishing to appear macho.
From the Wildcoast website:
The campaign follows a spate of high-profile egg raids at turtle nesting grounds in western Mexico.At one six-mile stretch of beach near Petatlán,
110 miles northwest of Acapulco, at least 100,000 eggs have disappeared since
last summer, conservationists say.
Except in the state of Oaxaca, the eggs aren't usually used as food, Zuñiga said.
Instead, they're cracked open, mixed with lime juice and a little chili powder, and swallowed raw two or three at a time. Each egg costs about $1.
It's illegal to consume, sell or even disturb the eggs. But at the Sonora Market in Mexico City, known as the "witches' market" for its herbs, magic candles and folk remedies, everyone knows the dosage: two eggs every three days for a month.
"I've never done it myself," police Officer Jesús Silva said. "But I know people who have taken them, and they say it works better than Cialis."
"Oh, they work. But you can't take them for too long because it's very bad for your body," one herb vendor said.
"Why's that?" he was asked.
"Too much cholesterol," he said.
Fay Crevoshay, a spokeswoman for Wildcoast,called the libidinous effects "a horrible myth." Hundreds of thousands of the eggs disappear down the gullets of hopeful men every year, she said.
"They think of it as a medicine, like Viagra. But Viagra costs 150 pesos (about $14) a pill in Mexico, while the eggs are 30 pesos (about $2.70)," she said.
Wildcoast approached two well-known environmental groups for help with the
campaign but was turned down, said Aida Navarro, director of wildlife protection
programs for Wildcoast. She would not identify them for fear of jeopardizing
future projects.
"They had this kind of feminist point of view, that we were
denigrating women," Navarro said. "But all companies sell through women, so why
not have a woman carry the message directly to the men who are eating these
eggs?"
Since 2001, Wildcoast also has run an annual campaign against the sale of sea turtle meat during Lent. Roman Catholics abstain from eating meat during the 40 days before Easter, but turtles are considered seafood, not meat.
About two-thirds of the 35,000 sea turtles killed each year in Mexico are eaten during Lent, Crevoshay said.
This year, the group put up billboard ads in Mexicali, La Paz, Tijuana, Hermosillo and Culiacan urging people not to buy the meat.
"Would you eat a panda?" the billboards asked.
The rock group Maná also has taken up the cause of sea turtles. Its Selva Negra foundation runs centers that watch over the nesting beaches.
Wildcoast says Mexicans are slowly becoming more protective of sea
turtles because of such efforts. In the Sonora Market, the lovemaking power of
sea turtle eggs already has its doubters.
"Speaking as a woman, I can tell you they don't work," said Sandra RodrÃguez Pérez, 27. Said Oscar BenÃtez Hernandez, a 31-year-old candle seller: "I tried them, put the lime on it and everything.
"All it gave me was a stomachache."
Face it, the type of man who eats a sea turtle egg as an aphrodisiac will not notice a poster saying ‘Let Turtles Live’ or read a scientific study. But he
does notice scantily dressed Playboy (cover, 2003) models.
Dorismar looks great, and maybe she’s a turtle lover too. Supposedly she received no payment for the ads. You go girl. And don’t let anyone give you any grief about being Argentinean. They can use a local girl next year. In fact, have her patrol the nesting grounds in a bikini and a sash that says
Viagra, Si! Sea Turtles, No!
(A very tasteful and dignified sash. One that highlights her inner beauty and intelligence. Not to mention matches her stilettos. )
See all three posters at:
http://www.tortugamarina.com/
