Laura Marlin Mysteries 2: Kidnap in the Caribbean (25 page)
Read Laura Marlin Mysteries 2: Kidnap in the Caribbean Online
Authors: Lauren St John
Six of the seven species of marine turtle are endangered, and yet illegal trade in meat, leather and eggs from these animals continues. In 2009, enforcement officers seized 849 sea turtles from a Vietnamese farmer who was planning to sell them for their meat and shells.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
: If you’re travelling and are offered souvenir turtle’s eggs, leather or shells, refuse to buy them and contact the authorities. Sponsor a turtle family through the Born Free Foundation:
www.bornfree.org
The illegal trade in seahorses for use in traditional Chinese medicine is on the increase. In July 2010, a single seizure in Beijing turned up 100 kilos of freeze-dried seahorses. The legal trade is also a matter of grave concern. An estimated eighty nations trade in 24 million seahorses annually.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
: Never buy any seahorse product, legal or illegal.
Leafy and Weedy seadragons are very rare and highly prized by collectors. If you own an aquarium, boycott any shop that sells them and refuse to buy them.
For more information or advice on how to sponsor marine species or raise money for them, contact the Born Free Foundation or join their Born Free Kids club:
www.bornfree.org
Heartfelt thanks to my agent Catherine Clarke, my editor, Fiona Kennedy, and all the other lovely people at Orion, especially Lisa Milton, Alexandra Nicholas, Nina Douglas, Kate Christer and Jane Hughes. Thanks also to David Dean for the incredible cover, to Anne Tudor of the Born Free Foundation for suggesting the location, and to Carlisle Bay resort in Antigua.
Laura Marlin in August 2012.
Copyright
AN ORION CHILDREN’S EBOOK
First published in Great Britain in 2011 by Orion Children’s Books.
This eBook first published in 2011 by Orion Children’s Books.
Text copyright © Lauren St John 2011
Illustrations copyright © David Dean 2011
The right of Lauren St John and David Dean to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted.
All characters and events in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978 1 4440 0281 2
Orion Children’s Books
The Orion Publishing Group Ltd
Orion House
5 Upper St Martin’s Lane
London WC2H 9EA
An Hachette UK Company
www.orionbooks.co.uk
