Giant Pacific leatherback sea turtles are on a fast track to extinction as commercial fishing and human-caused destruction of their beach nesting areas threaten to wipe out the 150 million-year-old species, scientists say. Speaking at the Leatherback International Survival Conference in Monterey, California, researchers said only a handful of females returned to nesting beaches along the Pacific coast last season - down from thousands who did so just 20 years ago.

"The decline is an example of the greatest extinction of a population of animals that we have probably witnessed since humans have recorded this sort of thing," James Spotila, a researcher at Philadelphia's Drexel University said. "It is almost as rapid as the extinction of the bison in North America in the 1800s."

Currently there are some 30,000 leatherback turtles swimming in the world's oceans, down from about 115,000 in the 1980s, the researchers said. The turtles can reach 9 feet in length and weigh 2,000 pounds. The females come ashore once a year to lay their eggs.

But the situation of Pacific leatherback turtles - which are genetically distinct from those in the Atlantic Ocean - is particularly perilous because their numbers have sunk to about 3,000 from 91,000 just 20 years ago. This has created a downward spiral where fewer and fewer females are left to reproduce, leaving the leatherbacks swimming toward an uncertain future, scientists said.

For example, last year just 68 of the animals, which spend most of their time in the water, nested on Costa Rica's most popular leatherback beach, down from 1,600 only 15 years ago. More worrying, along Mexico's coast - once described as the largest and most important leatherback nesting area in the world - only 50 females returned to lay eggs this past season, researchers said. In Malaysia, the number of turtles this year has dropped to only four, and Costa Rica has seen similar declines.

"The decline in the last five years is nothing short of catastrophic," said Sylvia Earle, an Explorer in Residence at National Geographic and leatherback expert. "The number has dropped at a precipitous rate."

"We need to find some solutions, because we have very few years left," before the turtles become extinct, said Todd Steiner, director of the Sea Turtle Restoration Project, which is sponsoring the weeklong Leatherback International Survival Conference.

Pacific leatherbacks are facing extinction mainly because of commercial fishing and from commercial development of their nesting areas, the researchers said. The main ocean threat comes from longline fishing where a ship can send out thousands of baited hooks on hundreds of lines that total 60 miles in length, snagging sea turtles, seals and other sea animals, in addition to the target catch of swordfish and tuna, the scientists said. The commercial swordfish industry is one of the most serious threats to the turtles and the most difficult problem to solve, Steiner said. Most swordfish are caught in international waters where it is difficult to enforce regulations or restrictions.

Problems on land stem from rapid development of hotels and resorts that encroach on the beaches where leatherbacks come to lay their eggs, they added. Poaching of sea turtle eggs for use in food and traditional medicines is also endangering their continued survival. (Sources)

(02/16/2002) Record 1,337 endangered sea turtles died on Florida beaches in 2001, most after drowning in shrimp nets or hit by boat propellers and hulls. A record number of sea turtles died on Florida beaches last year, largely due to shrimpers, experts say. In 2001, 1,337 dead or dying turtles were stranded on Florida shores, the most since biologists started monitoring them in 1980, according to the Florida Marine Research Institute. The record number is nearly 100 more than the previous record in 1996 when a large red tide breakout threatened the turtle population.

Shrimpers likely ost turtles, said Allen Foley, a biologist with the institute's Sea Turtle Research Group. Shrimpers flocked to Florida when every other state prohibited shrimping for several months, Foley said. Turtles get trapped in shrimp nets despite devices designed to help them escape.

Nearly a quarter of the turtles died after colliding with boat propellers and hulls, Foley said.

A paralyzing brain worm was responsible for 49 of the deaths, he said.

All of Florida's five species of sea turtles are protected. The green, Kemp's Ridley, hawksbill, and leatherback are endangered and the loggerhead is a threatened species. (Sources)

(08/21/2001) Fishing nets are killing hundreds of endangered leatherback turtles near their largest remaining nesting area in South America. Increased fishing activity near important South American nesting beaches for leatherback turtles has caused the deaths of hundreds of the endangered marine reptiles in recent months, according to a leading conservation group.

Up to half of the global population of leatherback turtles comes ashore to lay eggs on the Atlantic beaches of Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana, making the area a crucial nesting areas for sea turtles, officials with the World Wildlife Fund said. But the group said it documented a massive die-off of the turtles during the current nesting season, which lasts until the end of this month.

"High numbers of turtles are being caught in the nets of fishing boats in the area, some of them operating illegally," said Arnoud Schouten, who heads the World Wildlife Fund's marine turtle program in the region. Leatherbacks, as well as other turtles, get entangled in fishing nets and drown, or are wounded when fishermen try to save their nets by cutting out the turtles. Turtle mortality along this coastal stretch has "seriously increased" in recent years, Schouten said.

The group said hundreds of leatherback turtles have died during the present nesting season. In April, the number of dead leatherbacks found on the beaches of French Guiana reached 11 a day. The group said one of its monitoring teams, while patrolling at sea in June, found 12 entangled leatherbacks in a single net. Only one was still alive, and was released.

Callum Rankine of WWF said: "We are seriously concerned, because the death rate is way too high - it's massive. Leatherbacks take a long time to mature, they live for many years, and they produce few young. If more than a few are lost, it'll be unsustainable. And we won't know until it's too late.

"Computer models show this population in the Atlantic will crash, just like the leatherbacks did in the Pacific in the last 20 years or so. If we don't do anything, it could happen within the next couple of decades."

Leatherbacks are the largest sea turtles, travelling furthest, diving deepest and venturing into the coldest water. They can reach eight feet (2.4 metres) in length, and instead of a visible shell they have a carapace made up of hundreds of irregular bony plates, covered with a leathery skin.

Their eggs are often taken, though they are seldom hunted for their meat. Other threats include disease and pollution. Leatherbacks also sometimes mistake plastic bags and balloons for the jellyfish on which they feed, usually with fatal results. (Sources)

(08/08/2001) Number of endangered sea turtles off Africa's Atlantic coast is rapidly falling due to increasing poaching, fishing net entanglement, habitat destruction, and illegal trade in goods made from turtle shells. Increasing poaching, habitat destruction and illegal trade are all threatening endangered sea turtles off Africa's Atlantic coast, according to a new report released by the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), an international treaty body responsible for conserving animals that migrate.

The report says that while West Africa is home to some of the world's largest remaining populations of sea turtles and several important feeding and nesting sites, the animals are under increasing threat, particularly in certain countries. "Large numbers are being systematically slaughtered for meat and their eggs sold for food, beyond what is sustainable," said Douglas Hykle, deputy executive secretary of the CMS secretariat. "Considerable numbers are dying after becoming entangled in fishing nets. Others are being killed for their shell, which is carved into ornaments or used for making tourist trinkets."

"In the western Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, populations of sea turtles have been falling dramatically in recent years," Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, said in a statement. "This makes these findings in Western Africa doubly significant given its now undoubted status as a globally important region for sea turtle species".

The report said the beaches of southern Gabon hold the largest number of endangered leatherback turtles in the world, but that females there "are systematically killed on the beaches and eggs stolen".

Researchers also recently found what they say is the third-largest population of endangered loggerhead turtles in the world - numbering about 2,000 females - on the Cape Verde archipelago, said the report. Tough new laws and better customs searches are needed in Cape Verde and Sao Tome and Principe to crack down on the turtle-shell craft industry, the report says. The report urged countries to ratify the Convention on Migratory Species and the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species. It calls for preserving key nesting and feeding sites, funding for guards to keep poachers away, increasing the monitoring of turtle habitat, and protecting coastal areas threatened by pollution. (Sources)

(07/09/2001) Stationary "pound" fishing nets are killing 100s of endangered sea turtles in Chesapeake Bay each year despite supposed Endangered Species Act protection. The Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network has documented a high level of sea turtle deaths in Virginia inshore waters this spring, and Marine biologists suspect that fishing nets known as pound nets are contributing to the turtle deaths. Pound nets are passive fishing devices consisting of wooden poles pounded into the sediment with a net attached. The leader net extends into the water perpendicular to the sea floor.

From May 19 to June 11, 2001, preliminary data indicate 160 sea turtles washed ashore dead in Virginia. The number of dead sea turtles began to increase dramatically after May 29 that year. On three days in June, more than 20 dead turtle were reported each day.

On June 14, 2001 off Sunset Beach, an observer for the National Marine Fisheries Service documented six loggerheads and one Kemp's ridley stranded dead on the beach in the vicinity of 19 pound nets. Virginia Marine Resources Commission law enforcement agents also documented two dead and one live sea turtle in pound net leaders along the eastern shore that day.

Sea turtle entanglements in pound net leaders are often difficult to detect, fisheries officials say. These dead sea turtles were found in the leaders at the water's surface, but due to the lack of water clarity in the Chesapeake Bay, turtles entangled below the surface may go unobserved. It's likely that significantly more sea turtles have been entangled this spring than were observed, said Rolland Schmitten, director of habitat conservation at the National Marine Fisheries Service.

With 137 dead, loggerhead turtles make up the majority of the strandings, but 16 Kemp's ridley, one green, and six unidentified sea turtles were also stranded during this time. Most of the stranded turtles were juveniles. About 22 sea turtles were also reported as floating dead in various parts of the Chesapeake Bay during early June.

On June 18, 2001, the National Marine Fisheries Service finally issued a temporary rule that restricts the use of all pound net leaders of eight inches or greater stretched mesh and all pound net leaders with stringers in Virginia waters of the mainstem Chesapeake Bay and tributaries.

All sea turtles that occur in U.S. waters are listed as either endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. The Kemp's ridley, leatherback, and hawksbill are listed as endangered. Loggerhead and green turtles are listed as threatened, except for populations of green turtles in Florida and on the Pacific coast of Mexico, which are listed as endangered. Under the Endangered Species Act, injuring or killing sea turtles, called a "take," is prohibited. (Sources)

(03/28/2001) Despite 1999 ban, up to 20,000 critically endangered green sea turtles are killed for food in Bali each year, while resort hotels and other development has destroyed most of the beaches where the turtles once laid their eggs. In most of the world, green sea turtles are considered endangered, but in Bali they are considered a moneymaker. Despite the island's image as a tropical paradise, Bali's inhabitants slaughter more endangered green sea turtles than anyone else in the world, environmentalists say, bringing the species ever closer to extinction.

The trade in green sea turtles remains a $1-million business despite a law enacted by the Indonesian government in January 1999 making it illegal to catch, possess or eat the animals. In Bali, officials created a huge loophole by allowing hunters to catch 5,000 green sea turtles a year. In practice, this meant there was no limit on the number caught because the quota was never enforced. Agus Haryanta, the top enforcement officer for turtles in Bali, estimates that the hunters catch and kill 15,000 to 20,000 a year.

Further threatening the species' survival, resort hotels and other buildings constructed in Bali during the past three decades have overrun most of the beaches where turtles once laid their eggs.

Bali, the only Indonesian island that is predominantly Hindu, enjoys a reputation for friendliness and tranquillity. With its grand tourist resorts and international airport, it has escaped much of the violence that has rocked Indonesia in recent years. But under the surface, Bali has its share of tension.

The bloodletting elsewhere in the country has kept tourists away, and the loss of business has left some Balinese merchants desperate. The average monthly wage is less than $50, and poverty is widespread. Outside the tourist centers, villagers eke out a simple living from terraced rice paddies.

In coastal villages such as Tanjung Benoa, impoverished islanders believe it is their right to harvest nature's resources however they want, whether by catching endangered sea turtles or by using explosives to kill reef fish. One large turtle can fetch the equivalent of more than two months' pay for an ordinary worker.

In fact, recent attempts by the authorities to curb the turtle trade have led to ugly clashes. In February, a mob of turtle hunters burned down the small police station in Tanjung Benoa, minutes from the major resort district of Nusa Dua. Police say they know who was responsible but haven't made any arrests out of fear for their own safety. "Balinese are very friendly, but when there is pressure, they will fight back," said Putu Lisa, a World Wildlife Fund staff member who said she was threatened with rape if she continued to campaign for the turtles.

Much of the debate over turtle hunting in Bali revolves around religion. Balinese Hindus believe that the turtle is a sacred animal that supports the island on its back. Few, if any, of the turtle hunters are Hindus - they are mainly Muslims and Christians who come from other islands.

According to Balinese Brahman High Priest Gede Ngurah Kaleran, the Hindu religion doesn't require the killing of any turtles. The animal's meat isn't used in Hindu rites, he says. On rare occasions, turtles are sacrificed for ceremonies and their heads are displayed to symbolize the powerful god Vishnu. But this use of turtles comes from a centuries-old mistake in translating the scriptures, he said. In India, where the religion originated, turtles aren't sacrificed. In Bali, he says, priests could use ducks or pigs in place of turtles.

"In the Hindu religion, there is no mention of using the turtles, but of honoring the family of turtles," the priest said. "Turtle meat is not used for the religious ceremony. It's just for consumption."

Eating sea turtle is a big part of Balinese celebrations, and the Balinese are big on celebrating. The staging of elaborate ceremonies with traditional dress and sacred rites is a way of keeping Balinese culture alive in a predominantly Muslim country. Every day brings a reason to party: weddings, pregnancies, cremations, temple purification, teeth filing and other rites of passage. No proper Balinese host would be caught without turtle on the table, a sign of wealth and prestige.

Turtle lovers say the meat is delicious and that young turtle is best of all. Ground up and mixed with spices such as chili and black pepper, it's usually served on skewers as turtle satay and goes well with arak, a Balinese rice wine. Turtle is also offered daily at small restaurants and on street carts in Denpasar, Bali's capital. Usually it isn't listed on a menu but is available to those who ask.

"It's a very old tradition, and it's very hard to change," said Ketut Sukada, a leading advocate of turtle hunting. "It's the wrong solution to stop people from eating sea turtles."

"I think the hotels are more dangerous than the fishermen," said Sukada, a lecturer in animal husbandry at Udayana University. "If it is correct that sea turtles are going to go extinct, it is not because of consumption."

There are seven oceangoing turtle species, and all are listed as endangered under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Indonesia, home to six of the seven species, signed the treaty in 1979. The only kind the Balinese like to eat is the green sea turtle.

In existence since the time of the dinosaurs, the green can weigh 400 pounds and measure 3 feet in length. It can stay underwater for 30 minutes without coming up for air and is known to travel 1,400 miles from its feeding grounds to its nesting site.

Sea turtles face numerous hazards. Humans have long hunted the animals for their meat, shells and leather and plundered their eggs for food. At sea, fishing nets trap and drown them. Coastal pollution poisons their habitat, and beachfront construction destroys their nesting sites.

If the species does manage to evade extinction and ever thrive again, the process will be a slow one. Turtles can live to be more than 100, but the female doesn't reach maturity for 20 to 50 years - and even then may lay eggs only once every two to four years. Out of hundreds of eggs, only a few survive to adulthood. Indonesian conservationists have started turtle breeding programs on Bali and other islands, but environmentalists say it will take decades for any progress to be evident.

Most of Bali's turtle hunters base their operations in Tanjung Benoa, a traditional fishing village on the southern end of Bali where the turtles once nested. Zakaria, commonly known as Wewe, owns about a dozen boats that bring live turtles from as far away as the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi to the Bali market. Often, the hunters remain at sea for two months without finding enough turtles to fill their boats.

One way the hunters catch a turtle is to swim after it and shoot it in the hind flipper with a spear gun. The spear is tied to a buoy, which marks the turtle's location. Once the animal has exhausted itself trying to get away, the hunters haul it into a canoe. More commonly, the hunters use long nets at night to catch the turtles when they surface to breathe.

In 1999, the environmental group Animal Conservation for Life counted 9,000 turtles brought to Tanjung Benoa during a four-month period. Outraged foreign visitors began writing to Gov. Dewa Made Brata and threatening a tourist boycott of Bali if the turtle trade continued. In June, he canceled the quota of 5,000, banning turtle hunting entirely.

In the first major attempt to crack down on turtle hunting, authorities seized one of Wewe's boats with 90 turtles on board when it returned from a hunting trip in October. The police took one of the turtles with them but left the rest of the evidence on the boat. When they returned the following morning, they found that Wewe had sold all the turtles. Furious, the police charged him with illegally trading in wildlife and selling the evidence.

Wewe's supporters have mounted several protests on his behalf, including one in February the day before his trial began, when they burned down the police station. Wewe argues that his turtle business benefits the environment because it keeps his employees from engaging in their previous occupations: piracy and fishing with explosives. Mulyadi, one of Wewe's boat captains, says that until he became a turtle hunter, he would often throw 50 homemade bombs into the sea in a day and rake in tons of dead fish. Now he wonders what job he could do if he no longer caught turtles.

"The majority of the sea turtle hunters are people who used to bomb," said Mulyadi, 42, who like many Indonesians goes by only one name. "If there is another job that can provide enough income for me, I will change jobs. But for now, I can only do this."

Many of the hunters claim never to have heard that turtles are endangered or that it is against the law to catch them. "As far as I know, it is not illegal yet," Mulyadi said. "No one has told me it is."

Once the turtles are brought to Bali, they are kept in plain sight on the beach for as long as a month in bamboo pens the size of houses. At high tide, water comes into the pens and keeps the animals alive.

The killing is especially callous - the turtles are cut apart while they are alive to make it easier to extract the meat from the shell. Like humans', the eyes of a turtle can water. While the animal is being butchered, it looks as if it's crying.

If the animal is killed outright, the meat will stick to the inside of the shell, the slaughterers say, requiring more work to extract it. Usually, the turtle lives for about 10 minutes while it is cut apart. "The newly caught sea turtle is more difficult, since it struggles quite hard to get away," said Soleh, the turtle butcher. "One that has been in captivity for a while is easier."

Because of the crackdown on the turtle trade, the animals are now usually slaughtered in the middle of the night. Soleh said his first step is to cut off the four flippers. Then he cuts around the outside of the shell and opens the chest, removing all of the meat. After that, he removes the internal organs. When he takes out the heart, it is still beating.