leatherback turtles Threatened
The number of leatherback turtles are being pushed to extinction.
In 1982, there were an estimated 115,000 adult female leatherbacks
in the world. By 1996, there were only an estimated 34,500.
James Spotila of Drexel University in Philadelphia and colleagues
surveyed the turtles in Playa Grande, Costa Rica - the fourth-largest
nesting colony of leatherbacks in the world. They reported in
the May 31, 2000 issue of Nature that the number of nesting
females had dropped from 1,367 in 1988-89 to 117 in 1998-99. If
the trend continues, there will be fewer than 50 nesting females
in the Pacific by 2004.
The researchers write the turtles often get ensnared in fishing
lines and nets.
"A mathematical model based on our assessment of a once-large
leatherback population predicts that unsustainable adult mortality,
apparently due to human fishing activity, will soon drive this
population to extinction," the researchers wrote. "If
these turtles are to be saved, immediate action is needed to minimize
mortality through fishing and to maximize hatchling production."
