One of the reasons why author Paul Mila chose a sea turtle as the main character in Harry Hawksbill Helps His Friends was to bring sea turtles to the forefront of peoples' minds when thinking about ocean conservation.
They certainly deserve, and need, our help.
Consider the odds: the average sea turtle nest contains about 100 eggs, most of which will hatch.
During a nesting season a female sea turtle will lay several nests. Sounds like a lot of baby turtles, right? But the odds of a hatchling making it to adult hood are one in a thousand.
After hatching, they face a perilous journey to the sea.
Then they must evade natural predators: birds and fish. Finally, as they reach maturity, they must be lucky enough to survive man-made obstacles, like fishing nets.
Paul shares, "Last year in Cozumel, Mexico, I was fortunate to see a turtle nest hatch, under the auspices of the local sea turtle conservation society, Ecologia Cozumel.
We watched the hatchlings march to the sea. Just when we were about to leave, one straggler emerged from the nest.
I videoed his journey toward the sea, and watched him navigate beach debris, human footprints, and finally battle the waves, getting thrown back again and again.
Would he make it?"
Watch and find out: