Gallery Spotlight
GREEN SEA TURTLE ON MOLASSES REEF
By Kim B. Parrish
© 2020 – 36 x 36” Oil on Canvas
GREEN SEA TURTLE
Chelonia mydas
Federal Status: Endangered; FL Status: Protected
Green sea turtles glide over Florida reefs like underwater ambassadors. But it wasn’t always so nice. Sadly, Florida doesn’t have a good history with sea turtles. From the early 1800s on up to the 1970s, sea turtles were considered to be just another form of local seafood. The economy of Key West once rotated around capturing thousands of green turtles for soup canneries and meat processing facilities. People around the world were dining on turtle products from Florida. It was not our finest hour.
After our local population was decimated, Florida’s governor stepped in, the Endangered Species Act of 1973 listed green turtles, and the unsustainable turtle meat industry finally closed. You can still visit the site of an old cannery today, at the tiny Turtle Kraals Museum, on Margaret Street in Key West. Green turtles are still killed for food in other nations around the world, but Florida has replaced its sea turtle canneries with turtle hospitals, to care for the sick and injured.
My original sea turtle art, “Green Turtle On French Reef” is 36 x 36″ on canvas. Some of my paintings are also available as limited edition prints. Thanks for your interest—I hope it this sea turtle fine art inspires you to protect Florida’s marine life.