Nicole Trunfio apologises after getting slammed for posting photos of herself touching turtles

Nicole Trunfio has been forced to apologise for uploading photos of herself posing with baby sea turtles to Instagram on Thursday. 

The Australian supermodel, 34, landed herself in hot water when she tried to celebrate Earth Day by sharing a glimpse at her visit to a turtle conservation facility in Oaxaca Mexico.  

In the photos, the mother-of-three was seen posing in a skimpy bikini on the beach, while allowing the turtles to crawl on her body.  

Fans quickly informed the mother-of-three that touching baby turtles is actually dangerous for their survival.

Baby sea turtles imprint themselves on the sand where they are born, before making their way to the ocean for the first time. 

If the imprinting process is disrupted by human touching, the turtles’ nesting, feeding and mating habits can be hindered far into the future. 

‘Why did you put it on your stomach when it’s trying to get to the ocean?’ one person commented, while another added: ‘Releasing turtles is NOT bikini photo shoot time holding them & putting them on your body.’ 

After one fan wrote: ‘Oh no… this is basically a what not to do’, Nicole quickly replied with a heartfelt apology.   

Just read up on this  I don’t know why they told us it was ok [sad face emoji]. I’m so heart broken,’ Nicole wrote.

Rather than deleting her post, the jewellery designer proceeded to update the caption with a grovelling apology. 

‘While this experience provided beautiful imagery, I have just learned it is NOT OKAY to touch the turtles and is vital for their survival not to be touched,’ she lamented. 

‘It saddens me that places will allow humans to touch the turtles for money, ESPECIALLY because the experience would have been just as good to WATCH them KNOWING me not touching them would offer them a better chance for survival.’

Nicole said she would leave her regretful post on her page in the hopes that other people might learn from her mistakes.