sea turtles

Sea Turtles Killed by Fisheries

By sarajean on 4/30/10 3:31pm
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Need a reason to ease up on the fish eating other than vegetarianism, being humane to animals, avoiding mercury poisoning, and the environment itself? If you love sea turtles, you might want to start eating fake fish, because it turns out that the fishing industry is causing death to many turtles every day.

Within the last 20 years, millions of sea turtles have been captured—usually accidentally—by unsustainable fishing practices such as trawling or using longlines or gillnet methods. If you thought dolphin bycatch during tuna hunting was bad, you’ll be very dismayed to know that sea turtles are commonly drowning by being kept in these nets for too long. Like other reptiles, they require oxygen—something they cannot get when trapped in a net.

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Save Turtle Habitat!

By sarajean on 1/30/10 9:53am
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The other day, I was rummaging in my daughter’s toy chest and found her turtle puppet. “Look,” I told her, “Your turtle puppet!”

She wrinkled her nose, slapped a hand on her four-year-old hip, and informed me, “It’s not a turtle, Mommy, it’s a leatherback sea turtle.”

Well then! At least they had someone sticking up for them, eh?

It turns out that we, too, can stick up for the leatherback sea turtle today—albeit in a slightly less bossy manner.

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Save the Sea Turtles

By sarajean on 10/15/09 5:32pm
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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.

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Possible Pinta Island Tortoises Hatchlings Soon; Act to Save Sea Turtles

By sarajean on 7/23/09 8:04pm
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Amazingly, a 90-year-old, 198-pound giant tortoise—the last of his own kind—may soon be a father. In his pen at the Galapagos Islands, “Lonesome George” was discovered with some very unexpected company on Monday—five unhatched eggs in perfect condition.

This news is incredibly exciting, as no known Pinta island tortoises have reproduced in decades, and despite much encouragement from his keepers since 1993, George hasn’t expressed an interested in mating—that is, apparently, until now.

Also amazing is that George is considered to be in his “sexual prime.” Though I knew turtles grew to be very old, even older than humans—anyone who’s seen Finding Nemo knows that, right?—I had no idea that 90 was considered to be a good age for reproduction.

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New Device to Protect Sea Turtles?

By sarajean on 6/28/09 9:40pm
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When I read stories like this one, two thoughts cross my mind. The first is, “Awesome! This is exactly what we need.” The second? “It’s about bloody time. Why haven’t we done this already?” Though sea turtle protection is long overdue—especially considering that all species of sea turtles are endangered—we can definitely welcome any protection now with open arms. Better late than never, right?

Since many sea turtles meet their untimely deaths in fisherman’s nets, a new device is being developed to target these nets in order to protect turtles. Fishery managers are using a Cape Cod company to develop a device that will allow them to continue using fishing nets while still protecting sea turtles.

Hopefully it’s not too good to be true.

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What could be cuter?

By macallister on 6/15/09 11:05pm
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What's cooler and cuter than turtles? Baby turtles.

And what's cuter and cooler than baby turtles?

Baby turtles just hatching.

This Week in Turtle News

By sarajean on 6/7/09 8:45pm
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Our leathery shelled friends have made the news multiple times this week:

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Baby Sea Turtles Released for World Turtle Day

By sarajean on 5/26/09 8:05pm
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With all of the news of the swine flu epidemic coming out of Mexico, some brighter news is always welcome. These sea turtles, released in Puerto Escondido, Mexico on World Turtle Day last Saturday, are definitely a ray of light—not just for Mexico, but for sea turtles in general.

All species of sea turtles are labeled as either endangered or threatened, so any attempts to increase their population provide hope for their survival. Though it’s illegal to hunt most turtle varieties, they are still captured and sold as a delicacy in China and many other countries—as well as used for leather products such as shoes and wallets.

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