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As ancient as the dinosaurs, the leatherback sea turtle is something of a dinosaur itself and is today hailed as the heaviest reptile on the planet. This champion swimmer, whose diving capabilities are unmatched by other turtles, has confounded scientists with its mammal-like ability to regulate its own body temperature. Tolerant even of the extreme temperatures of the Arctic Circle, leatherbacks cannot endure humanity’s assault on the world’s oceans much longer.
ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE
PROTECTION STATUS: Endangered
YEAR PLACED ON LIST: 1970
CRITICAL HABITAT: A strip of land 0.2 miles wide and 1.9 miles long on the western end of the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the surrounding waters up to the hundred-fathom curve, designated in 1979
RECOVERY PLAN: 1998
RANGE: All tropical and subtropical oceans, as far south as the southernmost tip of New Zealand and as far north as the Arctic Circle
THREATS: Entanglement in fishing nets, coastal development, beachfront lighting, increased nest predation, habitat degradation, ocean pollution, collisions with watercraft, and global warming
POPULATION TREND: In the Pacific Ocean, fewer than 2,000 adult females now remain, and studies suggest that the Pacific population may become extinct by 2010. The Mexico leatherback nesting population is today less than 1 percent of its estimated size in 1980. Leatherbacks in the Atlantic Ocean are doing better, with some nesting populations increasing.
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SAVING THE LEATHERBACK SEA TURTLE
Ocean-borne longline fishing vessels targeting swordfish and tuna deploy thousands of baited hooks on lines that can extend for more than 60 miles. These hooks catch and kill not just swordfish and tuna but thousands of sea turtles, seabirds, marine mammals, and sharks. Gillnet fisheries likewise entangle and drown many of these species, including the leatherback sea turtle.
The Center has repeatedly initiated litigation to curtail commercial fishing practices off the West and East coasts of the United States, as well as off Hawaii. Following one successful lawsuit, longline fishing for swordfish was prohibited along the West Coast. But typically, once we get relief for the besieged turtles in one location, the National Marine Fisheries Service proposes to reopen these destructive fisheries elsewhere. It has been a shell game, but the Center will persist until turtles are no longer drowning in commercial fishing gear.
While leatherbacks are threatened throughout their range, they’re particularly imperiled in the Pacific Ocean. In 2007 we filed a petition to obtain critical habitat designation for leatherbacks in their foraging grounds off the coasts of California and Oregon.
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Contact: Brendan Cummings
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