It’s no secret that we’re big turtle fans in these parts. If you love the shelled creatures, had a mutant turtle as a hero at some point in your life, and don’t like seeing them killed, I hope you’ll decide to take action for them with this information.

It’s a sad but true fact that sea turtles are dying out—because of us. Both loggerhead sea turtles—who live in the Atlantic Ocean—and the Pacific Ocean’s leatherback sea turtles are listed as threatened or endangered by the Endangered Species Act. Even with this listing, they remain mostly unprotected; every year their numbers dwindle down further and further.

Thinking of the day when the only turtles our children will be able to see are the ones in cartoons makes my stomach sink; doesn’t it do that to yours? “Oh, I love Crush and Squirt, too, little Johnny. You know there were real sea turtles once? No, I’m not kidding! We can look it up on the Internet…”

Rather than become self-fulfilling prophecies, we can get turtle protections passed today that are specific, comprehensive and effective. The legislation that we need will save turtles from becoming commercial fishery bycatch—an unfortunate side effect of our current fishing policies. The laws should also take into consideration how climate change affects our reptilian friends, and take steps to curb that in order to save them (and us) as well.

There are six species of sea turtles that swim in United States waters. All six are currently threatened by loglines and other gear used in commercial fishing. This equipment kills the turtles or injures them to where they cannot protect themselves and eventually die.

They are also threatened by various diseases caused by human pollution that invades their habitat, as well as a general loss of habitat itself. When they don’t have their nesting grounds—in this case, beaches—or other parts of integral turtle habitat, how can we expect them to recover their own species?

We can support these turtles today by requesting that Congress address these important issues with full legislation that promotes turtle protection. All six of these species have been listed as endangered or threatened for over ten years; we know that being listed can sometimes help encourage a species to recover, but it’s simply not enough. If we want sea turtles around within our children’s lifetimes, we need to act today. Click here to support this action and ask Congress to save the sea turtles.