Leatherback nesting in Malaysia has essentially disappeared, declining from about 10,000 nests in 1953 to only one or two nests per year since 2003. It is estimated that the global population has declined 40 percent over the past three generations. The leatherback sea turtle is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. We engage our partners as we develop regulations and recovery plans that foster the conservation and recovery of leatherbacks and their habitats, and we fund research, monitoring, and conservation projects to implement priorities outlined in recovery plans. We use a variety of innovative techniques to study, protect, and recover this endangered species. NOAA Fisheries and our partners are dedicated to conserving and recovering leatherback turtle populations worldwide. Through this initiative, NOAA Fisheries has made it a priority to focus recovery efforts on stabilizing and recovering Pacific leatherback populations in order to prevent their extinction. Pacific leatherbacks are one of nine ESA-listed species identified in NOAA’s Species in the Spotlight initiative. The Pacific leatherback turtle populations are most at-risk of extinction. The greatest of these threats worldwide are incidental capture in fishing gear (bycatch), hunting of turtles, and collection of eggs for human consumption. They face threats on both nesting beaches and in the marine environment. Once prevalent in every ocean except the Arctic and Antarctic, the leatherback population is rapidly declining in many parts of the world. The leatherback turtle has the widest global distribution of any reptile, with nesting mainly on tropical or subtropical beaches. They are also accomplished divers with the deepest recorded dive reaching nearly 4,000 feet-deeper than most marine mammals. Leatherbacks are highly migratory, some swimming over 10,000 miles a year between nesting and foraging grounds.
They are named for their tough rubbery skin and have existed in their current form since the age of the dinosaurs. They are the only species of sea turtle that lack scales and a hard shell. The leatherback sea turtle is the largest turtle in the world.
0 kommentar(er)
