If you are fortunate enough to have encountered sea turtles while swimming, snorkeling or diving in the sea, then you know how remarkable these creatures are. The seven species of these large reptiles are real throwbacks to the age of dinosaurs.
Humanity has reduced the population of these creatures by roughly 95%. Turtles have no defense against butchering for meat, egg taking, oil spills, drowning in nets, entanglement and hooking by fishing gear, oceanic trash, and destruction of nesting grounds.
Fortunately, the US Endangered Species Act of 1973 set a global example and, over the years, other legislation around the world has put in place protection for sea turtles. In the US, legislation mandates mitigation measures against many of the main sources of sea turtle mortality. For example, shrimpers are required to use Turtle Excluder Devices (so-called TEDs), which prevent large objects like turtles from entering their nets.
Sea turtles are still endangered, but there is reason for cautious optimism. Populations of most species are on the rebound. This is even true for the remarkable leatherback turtle, which has eliminated its hard shell and, like many dinosaurs, can actually heat its blood. These one-ton reptiles swim above the Arctic Circle and can dive nearly 4,000 feet beneath the surface.
Sea turtles travel the globe. Loggerheads hatched in Japan visit Baja California. Some of Florida’s green turtles hatched in West Africa. Leatherbacks that nested in Indonesia visit California, some 6,000 miles away.
If you get a chance to swim with these amazing creatures, be glad that they seem to be coming back from the brink of extinction.
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After Steep Decline, Signs of Hope for World’s Sea Turtles
Photo, posted May 7, 2014, courtesy of Florida Fish and Wildlife via Flickr.
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Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
Thank you Dr. Simon… great presentation on the single most appropriate subject for my first encounter with Earth Wise. The situation for sea turtles appears to be as bad or worse than for land turtles, most recently exemplified by mass mortality of endangered Kemp Ridley sea turtles off Cape Cod. Marine ecosystems generally have experienced lower impacts than terrestrial ecosystems from human activities… but this does not seem to be the case for turtles. I hope that your optimism for future recovery of sea turtle populations proves to be well-founded.