Tag Archives: turtles

Sea turtles are thriving as coronavirus lockdown empties Florida beaches

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By Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN

Updated 2:05 AM ET, Sat April 18, 2020

Baby sea turtles are thriving on closed beaches

Baby sea turtles are thriving on closed beaches 01:10

(CNN)Sea turtles in Florida are nesting in peace — for now.

With the beaches in Florida closed in an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus, researchers are seeing less plastic and waste, fewer people and vehicles on the beach and less disorientation for emerging hatchlings that’s caused by artificial lights on the beach, David Godfrey, Executive Director for the Sea Turtle Conservancy told CNN.
And because of these factors, the sea turtles are able to build without any disruptions.

No people, no problem

Nesting season for leatherback turtles, the largest of all sea turtles, is underway right now mostly in the central east and southeast coast of Florida, according to Godfrey. They nest in fewer numbers than the loggerheads, who arrive in May. Later in the summer months is when green turtles will arrive.
It takes about 60 days for sea turtle eggs to incubate and for hatchlings to emerge, Godfrey said.
But during that time on an active beach, lots of things can happen to that nest — it can get trampled, people can dig it up, and artificial light can harm the hatchlings.
With an inactive beach, the situation might be quite different.
A loggerhead turtle returning to sea in Florida

A loggerhead turtle returning to sea in Florida
“I think there is a strong likelihood that we will see decreased human-caused impacts on sea turtle nesting this year, which is a rare silver lining to this global pandemic,” Godfrey said. “It’s premature to try and use numbers to demonstrate what we all think and hope is happening. The numbers just aren’t there yet. I hear that the season is going pretty well so far, it’s off to a good start.”
Less foot traffic helps the reptiles right now, but what will happen when the beaches reopen and the sea turtles’ eggs begin to hatch? Godfrey said researchers are working in uncharted territory and only time will tell.

An influx of nests

In Juno Beach, 60 miles north of Fort Lauderdale, Dr. Justin Perrault, Director of Research at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center told CNN they have counted 72 nests on their beach so far; 71 were leatherback nests and one was a loggerhead nest.
Godfrey said when the nesting season culminates in late October, researchers will be able to measure how successful it was. Toward the end of April is when they will see hatchlings from the leatherback sea turtles.
Perrault said his team does worry that when the beaches reopen, there may be an influx of people flocking to the beach because they were stuck indoors for an extended period of time.
“It just depends on the behavior of people after the closures end,” he said “And if there’s an excessive amount on the beaches, then more people means more interaction with turtles, which can be negative if they don’t follow the rules.”
The city of Jacksonville announced beaches and parks in Duval County will open Friday with certain restrictions starting at 5 pm, according to the city’s Twitter page.
“Beaches will only be open from 6 am to 11 am and 5 pm to 8 pm,” the tweet said.
In a video statement, Mayor Lenny Curry cited Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ executive order and said the beaches will only be open for essential activities like walking, biking, hiking, fishing, running, swimming, taking care of pets and surfing while social distancing from others.
“My executive order for social distancing guidelines that limits gathering to fewer than 50 people still stands,” Curry said.
City parks will be open for normal business hours, but public gathering locations like pavilions and picnic areas will remain closed.
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Perrault said when people do return, it’ll be important for them to keep lights off when it’s possible, maintain distance from marine animals and leave the beach the way they found it.
“Remember that we’re not the only species out there,” he said.

CNN’s John Murgatroyd contributed to this report

10 years to save ‘world’s most threatened sea turtle’

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By Helen BriggsBBC News, science and environment
  • 4 April 2020
Eastern Pacific LeatherbackImage copyrightFUNDAOPRNCIPE_FFI
Image captionNumbers are declining due to accidental fishing and egg collecting

The largest turtle in the ocean, the leatherback gets its name from its tough, rubbery skin.

Migrating long distances a year, the turtle can cross the Pacific Ocean.

But with threats like getting tangled in fishing gear, the future for one distinct population looks “dire,” say conservation groups.

At the current rate of decline, the critically endangered Eastern Pacific leatherback turtle will vanish within 60 years.

We have just 10 years left to put measures in place to save it, says a group of conservation scientists and organisations including Fauna & Flora International (FFI).

“We have it within our power to protect these animals and enable them to thrive, but all those who have a hand in shaping their future need to work together to do so,” said Alison Gunn, programme manager for the Americas and the Caribbean at FFI.

The Pacific populations are critically endangeredImage copyrightJEREMY HOLDEN / FAUNA & FLORA INTERNATIONAL
Image captionEgg collection on nesting beaches is a threat

Leatherback turtles are found across the world. While considered a single species, populations found in different oceans are reproductively distinct. The Pacific leatherbacks are most at risk of extinction, with both Eastern Pacific and Western Pacific leatherbacks continuing to decline.

Key nesting habitats in the Eastern Pacific are in Mexico and Costa Rica, with some isolated nesting in Panama and Nicaragua. Over the last three generations, there has been a greater than 90% decline in the female nesting population.

“If this particular population goes they’re completely irreplaceable, because they’re unique to this particular part of the oceans,” said Alison Gunn. “There’s a lot of conservation action happening right now. We need to increase the collaboration that’s already happening in order to ensure that this population is not lost.”

Key interventions

If conservation efforts are targeted and scaled up at high-priority sites, and projects are quickly implemented and maintained, the Eastern Pacific leatherback population can eventually stabilise and increase, according to a population model.

Two things must be achieved in the next 10 years to save the Eastern Pacific leatherback:

  • Avoiding the deaths of 200-260 leatherbacks a year caused by “bycatch” of turtles in fisheries
  • Producing 7,000-8,000 more hatchlings a year through better nest protection and improved incubation conditions.

Leatherbacks are the largest of all sea turtles, weighing up to 2,000lb (900kg) and reaching over 6ft (2m) in length.

The population of leatherbacks in the Eastern Pacific has declined by more than 90% since the 1980s, which qualifies as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

The study is published in the journal, Scientific Reports.

Traffickers Shipping Thousands of Florida Turtles to Asia

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Miriam Jackson

 –

Traffickers in Florida are transport hundreds of land and freshwater turtles from Florida to Asia.

In China, land turtles have proved standard as pets whereas some are being bought for human consumption in meals markets. The pets can fetch up to $300 every.

But some turtles can promote for $10,000 at auctions held close to Shanghai, in accordance to a report from Kimberly Miller revealed in Florida by the Palm Beach Post.

Curtis Brown, the director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the principle supply for Miller’s report, stated that Florida has “one of the most densely populated areas in the world for turtle biodiversity, which makes us a target for illegal trafficking.”

Turtles for export from the U.S. are obtained each from the wild and from business turtle breeding farms.

Nearly all species of sea turtles are actually categorized as endangered. They’re killed not just for their meat but additionally for his or her eggs, pores and skin, and shells.

Turtles are honored by some Chinese as symbols of longevity, tenacity, and success.

Many of the turtles are being shipped to China on business air flights. But China isn’t the one vacation spot for trafficked turtles.

Southeast Asia a vacation spot for marine turtles

According to a research launched in late November of 2019 by Traffic, a wildlife monitoring group based mostly in Cambridge within the UK, native authorities have seized hundreds of marine turtles and their elements in markets positioned in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

The research of these sea turtles was commissioned by the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which has been agreed to by 182 nations.

Chinese medical doctors had spoken out a number of years in the past towards the follow of consuming turtle meat. But it seems that regardless of a scarcity of scientific proof, many Chinese nonetheless imagine that turtle meat offers medicinal advantages.

According to one skilled, turtles are typically consumed at non-public Chinese banquets.

Turtle eggs are thought of to be an aphrodisiac in some Asian nations. And in China, the idea apparently persists that turtle meat maintains youthful magnificence in ladies.

So it’s maybe not shocking that almost all species of sea turtles are actually thought of endangered.

And in accordance to the Swiss-based World Wildlife Fund (WWF), as of 2018, six out of the world’s seven endangered or critically endangered marine turtle species may very well be discovered within the Asia-Pacific area.

International trafficking rings based mostly in South and Southeast Asia are concerned within the commerce as a result of they’ll achieve large income from it.

Fishermen have profited by catching turtles of their nets as far-off because the Indian Ocean off Kenya’s coast.

Hawksbill turtles a lot in demand

The hawksbill commerce started a few years in the past and has prompted the deaths of hundreds of thousands of the turtles. They’ve been killed to make combs, frames for eyeglasses, and guitar picks, in addition to ornaments and low cost jewellery.

The hawksbill turtle’s tapered head ends in a pointy level resembling a hen’s beak, therefore its identify.

According to the National Geographic, hawksbill turtles develop to about 45 inches in shell size and weigh roughly 150 kilos. They can dwell for 30 to 50 years.

Jason Daley, a Madison, Wisconsin-based author specializing in pure historical past, science, and the surroundings, wrote in April of final 12 months that the hawksbill sea turtle “just might be the most beautiful reptile in the ocean.”

“It’s known for the striking patterns that appear on its head and flippers, but is most prized for its multi-hued shell,” stated Daley in an article revealed by the Smithsonian Magazine.

That was one purpose why the species was listed as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), he stated.

The IUCN, based mostly in Switzerland, has observer and consultative standing on the United Nations and helps to implement a number of worldwide agreements on nature conservation.

Daley cites a research carried out by researchers on the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, who’ve been trying to perceive the affect of historic exploitation on as we speak’s hawksbill turtles.

Prior to the aquarium’s analysis, which has been revealed within the journal Science Advances, information in regards to the hawksbill commerce went again solely to 1950.

But researchers traced commerce data from 1844 to 1992, together with paperwork from Japan’s customs archives.

Turtles have existed for hundreds of thousands of years and someway survived the mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs.

Now they’re threatened not solely by wildlife traffickers but additionally by plastic floating within the oceans that’s mistakenly taken by some of them to be meals. Ingesting the plastic can show deadly for them.

Wildlife police battle towards traffickers

In mid-February of this 12 months, the creator Joshua Hammer reported in The Wall Street Journal that police within the United Kingdom who concentrate on uncovering “wildlife crimes” have been seizing uncommon eels that have been destined to be shipped by air to Hong Kong.

Some turtles may have been blended in with the shipments, given the delicate approach through which the eels have been packaged .

In an article titled “Meet the Wildlife Police,” Hammer describes the scene at London’s Heathrow Airport and the sophistication of the packaging used to ship wildlife species now on the sting of extinction to Asia.

The border drive officers at Heathrow have been suspicious of a stack of polystyrene foam trays marked “frozen fish” that had handed by way of customs in London on their approach to a flight certain for Hong Kong.

The officers eliminated the highest tray and recovered cartons of dwell child glass eels, which belong to one of the world’s most critically endangered species.`

Possible options

In late August of 2019, Christine Madden Hof, marine species challenge supervisor for the Swiss-based World Wildlife Fund (WWF}, known as on all nations involved to work collectively to enhance monitoring, detection, and legislation enforcement actions geared toward halting the unlawful commerce in sea turtles.

One downside with that is doubtless to be corruption amongst customs officers, who in some Southeast Asian nations will be bribed to look the opposite approach as turtle shipments cross by way of.

In the United States, the Missouri Department of Conservation has been contemplating the imposition of restrictions on the “harvesting” of wild turtles species within the state.

Some of the turtles there have been reported to be heading for consumption in China or use in Chinese conventional drugs.

It’s already unlawful in Missouri to seize, promote, or commerce turtles within the pet commerce. Snapping turtle and softshell turtle species are allowed as recreation for hunters however provided that captured by accredited strategies. But it has apparently now reached the stage the place the turtle inhabitants in Missouri will grow to be so small that it may well’t be sustained.

To finish on a constructive be aware, a quantity of turtle lovers around the globe have labored as volunteers to shield susceptible turtles.

In late 2018, The New York Times reported on a nonprofit group in coastal Kenya that paid fishermen to halt the unlawful seize of turtles. The group additionally managed to maintain alive for a number of months a hawksbill turtle whose intestinal tract was clogged with plastic.

The turtle, whom they named Hogaar, had eaten small items of plastic that it had apparently mistaken for meals equivalent to jellyfish.

https://theunionjournal.com/traffickers-shipping-thousands-of-florida-turtles-to-asia/