sea turtles

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    More Than 1.1 Million Sea Turtles Poached Between 1990 and 2020, Study Finds

    More Than 1.1 Million Sea Turtles Poached Between 1990 and 2020, Study Finds

    Nearly all species of sea turtles are considered endangered, according to WWF. Despite this, people have continued to poach them for food, medicine and luxury goods in astonishing numbers. The first ever global assessment of illegal sea turtle hunting to consider multiple countries and regions, published in Global Change Biology Wednesday, found that more than […]

    New App Can Help End Illegal ‘Tortoiseshell’ Material Trade

    New App Can Help End Illegal ‘Tortoiseshell’ Material Trade

    Sea turtles face many threats, from ocean plastic pollution to the climate crisis. However, the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle faces a unique danger: Its spangled shell is highly desirable to create the falsely-named “tortoiseshell” material popular for trinkets and jewelry.  While selling real tortoiseshell is now illegal, the practice sadly persists. To fight back, […]

    Ecuador Creates New Marine Reserve North of Galápagos Islands

    Ecuador Creates New Marine Reserve North of Galápagos Islands

    A volcanic mountain landscape with lava plateaus and white coral sand beaches rimmed with blue-green sea, the Galápagos archipelago is inhabited by more than 180 species found nowhere else on Earth. The first recorded visitor to the group of islands was Tomás de Berlanga, fourth Bishop of Panama, who happened upon it on his way […]

    ‘Whales, Sea Turtles and Other Animals Shouldn’t Have to Suffer and Die From Entanglements’: Conservation Group Seeks Federal Help

    ‘Whales, Sea Turtles and Other Animals Shouldn’t Have to Suffer and Die From Entanglements’: Conservation Group Seeks Federal Help

    Oakland conservation group the Center for Biological Diversity has petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service to require trap fisheries to convert from traditional crab fishing gear to new ropeless or “pop-up” gear in all United States waters within the next five years. The old gear has led to many entanglements and injuries of endangered whales […]

    Record Number of Endangered Turtles Nest in Florida County

    Record Number of Endangered Turtles Nest in Florida County

    Scientists in a South Florida county have gotten a pleasant surprise this year. A record number of endangered leatherback sea turtles nested on beaches in Broward County this season, nearly doubling the previous record high. “It’s difficult to say why Broward County saw such an increase in leatherback nesting this season,” Broward County biologist and […]