The sad news out of Florida is that the iconic pink plastic flamingo, resident of many Florida front lawns since the 1950s, is about to become extinct.
The last flamingo was produced in June, and the parent company is going out of business today — a mere seven months before the icons were to celebrate their 50th birthday.
Only days before the flamingo announcement was made, Oceana released a report entitled Net Casualties showing that the federal government authorizes commercial fishing operations to kill nearly 10,000 sea turtles and harm another 334,000 each year. The report based its findings on the government’s own documents and data, and is the first time anyone has tallied the number of sea turtles killed by commercial fishing operations each year.
Sea turtles are among the earth’s oldest living creatures. They have been swimming the oceans since before the dinosaurs roamed the earth, more than 110 million years ago. While there may be no hope for the famous flamingos, it’s not too late to do something for the sea turtles.
