5 of The World's 7 Sea Turtles are Threatened by the BP Gulf Oil Spill

5 of The World's 7 Sea Turtles are Threatened by the BP Gulf Oil Spill
Some migrate more than 1,000 miles. Some wait 50 years to mate for the first time. Some grow to the size of a small car. From the most abundant sea turtle in the world, to the world's only vegetarian sea turtle, five threatened and endangered turtles are in peril, thanks to the BP Gulf oil spill.
By Dan Shapley

The BP Gulf oil spill is threatening not only fish (and fishermen), birds and marine mammals, but sea turtles. As both the slick on the surface and the plumes deep underwater spread across the Gulf of Mexico, and the duration of the spill extends from days into weeks into months, more and more turtles are put at risk. For sea turtles in the Gulf, it's a threat they can't necessarily survive. All of the five species that live out some portion of their lives in the Gulf are endangered or threatened species. There are only seven species of sea turtle worldwide, making the Gulf's habitat critically important for the conservation of the world's turtles.

"Sea turtles can suffer both internal and external injuries from contact with oil or chemical dispersants," said Elizabeth Wilson, a marine scientist who is the fisheries campaign manager at Oceana, the world's largest ocean conservation organization. "In addition to regulating bycatch in commercial fisheries and protecting critical habitat areas, the U.S. government can now add 'preventing future oil spills' to its list of essential sea turtle protections."

Oceana is urging President Obama and Congress to permanently ban further offshore oil drilling, not only in the Gulf of Mexico, but along the Atlantic Coast and in the Arctic off Alaska as well.

PLEASE READ ABOUT THE TURTLES: http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/bp-gulf-oil-spill-sea-turtles-0611?src=nl&mag=tdg&list=nl_dgr_got_anm_061510_sea-turtles&kw=ist

4,000 Baby Loggerhead Sea Turtles Get a Helping Hand Out to Sea

4,000 Baby Loggerhead Sea Turtles Get a Helping Hand Out to Sea
by Jaymi Heimbuch, San Francisco, California
Science & Technology
08. 6.09 Link to full article below

One of the most dangerous parts of a sea turtle's life is getting from the nest where it hatched out into the open ocean. The event is even more worrisome when you're an endangered species, such as is the case with loggerheads. So it's exciting to say that thanks to the help of 70 volunteers, more than 4,000 loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings made it out to sea.

Turtle Care Sunshine Coast and Coolum Coast Care tracked 56 nesting sites this year along Sunshine Coast in Australia, helping protect them from predators during incubation, then helping the baby turtles hatching from the nests make it safely to the water.

To read the full article:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/4000-baby-loggerhead-sea-turtles-get-a-helping-hand-out-to-sea.php?dcitc=weekly_nl

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DO NOT EVER USE PLASTIC BAGS: one example why - turtles

Plastic Found in 1/3 of Leatherback Turtles, According to Study
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada
04. 9.09

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/04/plastic-bags-found-in-leatherback-turtles.php?dcitc=weekly_nl

"Leatherback turtles are ancient creatures with a modern problem: Plastic."
A new study has looked at "necropsy reports of more than 400 leatherback" turtles and found that about 1/3 of them had plastic in their digestive system. They're not saying it was the immediate cause of death, but as Mike James, a marine biologist at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, says: "Eating something that is plastic can't be good for you, whether it leads to death or not." By saying no to plastic bags, you might be indirectly helping turtles...

leatherback turtle beach photo
A leatherback turtle laying her eggs. Photo: Flickr, CC

From Discovery News:

Leatherback turtles are critically endangered and highly charismatic creatures. They are big, weighing 1,000 pounds or more, with shells that can measure more than 6 feet across. These peaceful creatures have had the same basic body plan for 150 million years.

Leatherbacks are also popular for what they eat: namely, large quantities of jellyfish. The problem is that plastic bags look a lot like jellyfish, and plastic often ends up in the oceans, piling up in areas where currents -- and turtles -- converge. That led James to wonder how much often the turtles were swallowing plastic in their hunt for yummy jellyfish.

To read the full article: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/04/plastic-bags-found-in-leatherback-turtles.php?dcitc=weekly_nl

Saving the Sea Turtles

Saving the Sea Turtles
by Roddy Scheer
March 23, 2009

http://www.emagazine.com/view/?4622&printview&imagesoff

A trio of environmental groups last week filed notices of intent to sue the federal government over violations of the Endangered Species Act related to turtle protection. The groups—the Center for Biological Diversity, Oceana, and the Turtle Island Restoration Network—maintain that the National Marine Fisheries Service failed to meet a 12-month deadline for responding to three separate petitions that focused on loggerhead and leatherback sea turtles in U.S. coastal waters.

“The U.S. government has knowingly failed to respond to our petitions,” said Oceana’s senior campaign director David Allison. “Sea turtles in all U.S. waters are at risk of extinction, and the agency responsible for their protection is failing to do its job.”

“The threats to the loggerhead and leatherback sea turtles’ existence, ranging from being captured and killed by indiscriminate commercial fishing gear to nesting beach destruction and climate change, continue to grow even as the species’ numbers dwindle,” said the Center for Biological Diversity’s Andrea Treece. “If these magnificent animals are to survive, the federal agencies entrusted to protect them cannot be allowed to ignore the law.”

To read the full article:
http://www.emagazine.com/view/?4622&printview&imagesoff

Thousands of Sea Turtles Dead in Baja

Source: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/10/thousands_of_se.php

3,000 sea turtles have washed up dead on the shores of Baja, California in the last five years according to a report published by UC Santa Cruz last week. More below the fold.

The UC Santa Cruz report concluded that the North Pacific loggerhead turtles washing up in Baja are dying due to fishing activity. Turtles are accidentally caught in nets, hooks and other fishing gear. The Baja turtles are experiencing the highest stranding rates related to fishery activity in the world.

The North Pacific loggerhead travels 7,000 miles from Japan to Baja's Big Sur to feed for as many as thirty years before returning to Japan. In the past 10 years, the number of female turtles nesting in Japan has dropped by fifty to eighty percent.

Local fishermen are working with the Mexican government to protect the turtles. Together they plan to create a refuge for them in a designated "hot spot" area where most are harmed.