Brazil’s dream coastline - A harsh reality for sea turtles

With the advent of hotels, beach promenades, and the rise of big cities with their noise and light pollution, sea turtles are finding themselves with fewer and fewer options. Their numbers are dwindling. Wildlife preservation projects like TAMAR are fighting to protect plants and animals in the area. But animals and their habitat are under threat because of humans and their way of living along Brazil’s entire coastline. We begin our journey in northern Brazil, directly below the Equator. Oil was washed south from here onto the shore over a year ago. The oil came from a tank or rigs off the coast. Because the government failed to respond quickly enough, it affected fishing villages along thousands of kilometers of coast. People from the villages had to do what they could themselves. But for months, the fishers were unable to sell any fish. We visit these people to see how they are faring now. They live in the same area where the staff of the animal welfare project Cetáceos is trying to protect sea cows. These creatures are also at threat because of human attempts to subjugate nature to its own will. Brazil’s beaches, reefs, mangroves and forests are breathtakingly beautiful. But even Brazil’s beauty can’t mask that an entire habitat is in danger of disappearing.