$700

Lisa Pope

Exhibition: Waterworks Exhibition 2024 Entry Form

Painting Width: 16

Painting Height: 12

Medium: Watercolor

Any scuba divers out there? There are always things I hope to see while on a dive, especially sea turtles. They are a "keystone species" which means they are important to the environment and influence other species around them. They eat jellyfish thereby managing the number of jellyfish in the ocean. They graze on seagrass and sponges. Controlling the overgrowth of seagrass prevents it from providing too much shade to the coral which would hinder the photosynthesis that corals need to survive. Coral reefs and other marine organisms are responsible for producing 50% of earth's oxygen. Without hawksbill turtles, sponges would overgrow and suffocate the slow growing corals causing them to die. Therefore, sea turtles indirectly contribute to the health of the nearby coral reefs. This turtle was one of the many I have been fortunate enough to see while diving in the ocean.