TURTLE POWER

I’ve had some wonderful moments out on the quiet of the reef with green sea turtles. (If you’ve never done so, it’s really something you must seek out, even just once. I can recommend some spots.) Because they were abundant where I was, and knowing they’re found all over the planet, throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of every ocean, I never appreciated how threatened they were as a species (Chelonia mydas).

Accidental catches (mostly fisheries bycatch and abandoned fishing gear) as well as intentional harvesting of adult turtles and their eggs truly devastated green sea turtle populations globally. But with fifty years of concerted efforts, these folks have seen their numbers rebound significantly, somewhere between 25-30%, with efforts in Brazil, Mexico, and Hawai’i being particularly successful and some subpopulations rebounding to historical levels. Overall, this stabilization and restoration has shifted their long-standing assessed status from Endangered to, just now, Least Concern.

Good work, team.

More of this.

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