LIGHT UP THE NETSI In Magdalena Bay off Mexico's Baja California SAVING THE GREEN SEA TURTLE gillnet fishing threatens loggerhead turtles John Wang of the University of Hawaii suggested In 1978 green sea turtles were classified as putting lights on gillnets When the lights hit the endangered under the US Endangered Species Act water they turn on warning turtles about the net When the lights come out of the water they turn This gave them special protection in the United States off The lights have reduced the number of turtles Two agencies oversee their protection The US Fish and caught in nets at night by 40 percent Some fishers have even reported an increase in fish Wildlife Service USFWS protects their beach nesting caught when using the lights grounds The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA protects them in the ocean This includes both their coastal feeding grounds such as seagrass beds and the open ocean where turtles often become entangled in fishing nets The green sea turtle is one of the largest of the seven sea turtle species Its populations around the world have declined significantly because of human activity People wait for turtle mothers to come ashore and lay their eggs Then they kill the mother and raid the nests obtaining both meat and eggs Coastal development destroys beaches Vehicle traffic on beaches discourages mother turtles from nesting and artificial lights disorient hatchlings trying to reach the ocean Turtles seagrass feeding grounds are threatened by pollution and loose soil settling over the beds and killing the plants In the open ocean fishermen accidentally kill many sea turtles They are caught in shrimp trawinets or gillnets or they are hooked on longlines Many of them drown These hazards threaten not just green sea turtles but all sea turtle species
USFWS programs work to limit the impact of development and artificial lighting on nesting sites They establish federal refuges such as the Archie Carr Refuge where turtles can nest undisturbed NOAA now requires all shrimp trawlers to use a special technology Turtle Excluder Devices TEDs TEDs decrease the number of turtles caught in nets because the nets design allows turtles to escape from the nets But US government agencies don't save green turtles by themselves This turtle is one of the world's most protected species Other countries have passed laws to protect them The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources IUCN has listed them as endangered Trade in turtle meat and shells is banned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna THE IUCN CLASSIFIES SEA TURTLES The IUCN keeps a red list that classifies major species according to how threatened they are A critically endangered species is the most likely of the categories to become extinct in the wild An endangered species faces a great risk of extinction and a vulnerable species is at a slightly lower risk than an endangered one IUCN has classified the seven sea turtle species as follows Leatherback Vulnerable Green Endangered Loggerhead Endangered Hawksbill pictured Critically Endangered Olive Ridley Vulnerable Kemp's Ridley Critically Endangered Flatback Not Enough Information Many universities and research organizations including Mote Marine Laboratory and the National Marine Life Center research and restore sea turtle populations Private organizations such as the
Sea Turtle Of the sea turtles that hatch on the southeastern coast of the United States Conservancy and only approximately 1 in 1 000 to 1 in Oceana work 10 000 survive to adulthood to protect sea turtles Also sea turtles have captured the public's imagination and people want to protect them They see photos of turtles entangled in fishing nets People on the beach may encounter them laying eggs Several organizations sponsor volunteer groups that patrol beaches band turtles for satellite tracking and otherwise protect and study them Green turtles are still at risk in many places But at the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge and other areas with active protection they are a major success story SEA TURTLE LIFE AND HAZARDS Sea turtles begin as tiny clumsy babies clawing their way out of eggs and tumbling over one another in their sand dune nests They race covered with Temperature can determine the gender of sea turtle hatchlings Warmer temperatures produce more female hatchlings
