Wednesday, May 23 is World Turtle Day. World Turtle Day began in the year 2000 and was started by the American Tortoise Rescue, which is a rescue organizationin Malibu, California. The official date for World Turtle Day is May 23, which is set aside for people around the world to help people celebrate and protect turtles and tortoises, and their disappearing habitats around the world. Also at this time of year the Humane Society of the United States carries out observations and surveys to discover how well turtles are thriving in different parts of the world. Turtle Day is celebrated worldwide, especially among those for whom the turtle is special or symbolic animal. On World Turtle Day people celebrate in a variety of ways. Some of which are:  saving turtles caught on highways,
making a charitable donation to a turtle rescue organization
"adopting" a turtle
volunteering to rescue turtles or monitor beaches
take plastic and other non-biodegradable trash home rather than leaving it on the beach or in the sea
Things kids can do to help turtles: If you find turtles in a safe place, leave them there. They should not be taken home as "pets." They want to live free with other turtles and have their own families.
If you find turtles in a place that isn’t safe, let them go in the woods or in a park nearby.
If you have a turtle from a pet shop or some other captive situation, or you know of turtles that need rescuing, contact your nearest Humane Society.
If you see turtles on their backs at the side of the road, carefully turn them over and put them well away from the traffic. When moving turtles out of the road, don’t put them in ditches or very rocky places; gently put them on nice flat areas of grass or dirt facing in the same direction they were going. Long-tailed turtles might be snapping turtles and they can bite. They can be safely moved out of the street with a long-handled shovel but be sure to be very gentle.
If you find injured or sick turtles, take them immediately to a turtle specialist. Call your local humane society or zoo for the name of a turtle expert near you.
Don’t buy real tortoiseshell barrettes, brushes, ornaments or jewelry. Make sure it’s plastic before buying anything that looks like tortoiseshell. These are made from Hawksbill Sea Turtles!!
Other ways to help: http://www.turtles.org/helping.htm http://www.georgiaseaturtles.org/site/TR?fr_id=1000&pg=entry http://www.cccturtle.org/alerts/a_CommentsNeededGAShrimping.htm American Tortoise Rescue Read about World Turtle Day 
 As a memento of their two years together (and because she loves sea turtles) Ms. Welch adopted a critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle named "Mango" for the class. Mango is an adult female hawksbill sea turtle and was encountered nesting on August 6, 2006, on Lover's Beach in Nevis. She is part of the Eastern Caribbean Hawksbill Tracking & Conservation Project. Read more...Ms. Welch's Class Loops/Adopts Sea Turtle Click here to see Mango's Migration Map Read about Mango Hawksbill Sea Turtle Fact Sheet Info about Satellite Tracking of sea turtles For more information about adopting your own turtle or adopting a turtle as a gift go to http://www.cccturtle.org  Ms. Welch's Website Back to Recognition index 
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