Mission﹕Save the turtles

[2016.01.20] 發表

【明報專訊】The Smarties have urgently landed on an island because Eason has entered a restricted beach and is disturbing the sea turtles there!

What is special about sea turtles?

There are seven species of sea turtles in the world, and most of them are endangered. Sea turtles live in tropical and sub-tropical oceans. They would lay eggs on the beach where they hatched and would cross the entire ocean for food and nesting sites.

Why is the number of sea turtles decreasing?

The rising sea levels caused by global warming have resulted in the loss of beach, and weather extremes have destroyed turtles' nests as they have caused beach erosion and water flood. Man-made pollutants like plastic bags often trap turtles, and they may drown if they get caught in fishing nets.

What should we do?

We can help conserve sea turtles by not throwing rubbish into the sea. We should not enter restricted beach areas because it disturbs their nesting habits to do so.

“ Bill: Eason, leave the beach at once! You are disturbing my friends and polluting the environment! We are here to drive you out! ”

“ Eason: Haha! This beach has nice views. It should not be restricted to turtles. ”

“ Pat: You are so selfish! ”

■Mission 1

Can you find where a sea turtle has laid its eggs?

■Mission 2

A green turtle (綠海龜) is on Peng Chau (坪洲) and wants to go back to Lamma Island to lay its eggs. Can you draw an arrow to show it the way?

“ MoMo: We are here... ”

■Mission 3

Fill in the blanks with the correct forms of the words provided.

urge / investigate / track

The number of turtles returning to Hong Kong to lay eggs has been dropping. The reasons have been 1. ___________. The beach in Sham Wan (深灣), southern Lamma island, is the only regular nesting site for green turtles, an endangered species. ''Hong Kong 1'' (香港一號) is the first green turtle that has been 2. ___________ with a GPS, but it has been missing for 10 years. The government has therefore been 3. ___________ to do more to protect green turtles.

(answers on next text)

■English highway: -sentences

Wh-questions

A wh-questions begins with what, when, where, who, whom, whose, which, why or how. When we ask such a question, the answer cannot be yes or no.

e.g. When is the last time you watch movie?

e.g. What do you think about the new policy?

■Key words

(sub-) tropical oceans (亞)熱帶海洋

nesting sites 築巢地

weather extremes 極端天氣

■Glossary

urgently (adv) 緊急地