At the Cayman Turtle Centre tourists can kiss, hug, and pass around young sea turtles. They can even take a swim with bigger ones if they want. It’s billed as a rare opportunity to come into contact with endangered green sea turtles, a migratory species whose numbers are on the decline because of egg poaching, habitat degradation, and entanglement with fishing nets.

What many visitors don’t realize is that it’s also a sea turtle farm, where the rare turtles are bred in captivity to be killed for their meat, a traditional dish in the Caymans.

But the meat business is only part of the reason this government-owned facility is facing criticism from animal protection organizations. It’s also the way the