ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE

PROTECTION STATUS: Threatened

YEAR PLACED ON LIST: 1978

CRITICAL HABITAT: None

RECOVERY PLAN: Northwest Atlantic population 1991; Pacific population 1998

RANGE: Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans

THREATS: Entanglement in fishing nets, coastal development, global warming, beachfront lighting, increased nest predation, pesticides, collisions with watercraft, oil and gas exploration, and human consumption

POPULATION TREND: Pacific populations of loggerhead sea turtles have declined by more than 80 percent in the last 25 years, with fewer than 1,000 females returning to their natal beaches to nest each year. Atlantic and Indian ocean populations are also declining.