MALE, Maldives -- On the uninhabited Maldivian island of Gaadhoo, green turtle eggs lie buried in the sand, waiting to hatch. Sea turtle ranger Ibrahim Inaan visits three times a week to monitor their progress, but the fear is that only half of the estimated 100 eggs in each nest will hatch, allowing the newborn turtles to cross the few meters of beach to the Indian Ocean. The other half will be eaten in omelets, porridge or pancakes.
"Turtle eggs are taken from nesting beaches to either be eaten at home or sometimes they might be sold, but not openly," says Julian Gervolino, a sea turtle biologist with the Olive Ridley Project, a U.K.-based conservation charity named for the smallest and most abundant of the seven species of sea turtles.
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