Threats to Sea Turtles

Sea Turtles face many threats to their survival, many being man made, while others are more

natural.

As you can see, my unfortunate friend here was run over by a car. As humans encroach more and more upon our

territory, more and more of us die in this way.

We Sea Turtles use the reflection of the moon on the water to find our way back to the sea after laying eggs on the beach at night. Artificial lights on shore can make us go on shore

and then we typically end up like the poor fellow from the previous slide.

Sea Walls, and other“beach armoring”, prevent

property damage. But they can make beaches useless for egg laying.

Predators are another huge threat to our survival. “For example, raccoons have been known to destroy as

much as 90% of all nests on a beach.”(Bennett, P., & Keuper-Bennett, U. 2011)

Humans create lots of garbage, and though it maylook interesting and edible, as my friend in the picturebelow can attest: it is certainly not edible, and can be

fatal if ingested (or attempted to be ingested).

“In many coastal communities, especially in Central America

and Asia, sea turtles have provided a source of food.”

(Threats to sea turtle survival 2011)

“Hawksbill sea turtles, recognized for their Beautiful gold and brown shells, have been hunted for centuries to create jewelry and other luxury items. As a result, these turtles are now listed as critically endangered.” (Threats to sea turtle survival 2011)

Bibliography

Bennett, P., & Keuper-Bennett, U. (2011, May 02). Threats to marine turtles. Retrieved from http://www.turtles.org/threats.htm

Threats to sea turtle survival. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.conserveturtles.org/seaturtleinformation.php?page=threats

Images

http://www.conserveturtles.org/seaturtleinformation.php?page=threats

http://www.addwallpaper.com/1564-sea-turtle/sea-turtle

http://openmindrequired.com/blog/2009/07/shopping-local-farms-for-pasture-raised-lamb-pork-beef-poultry-and-eggs/

http://www.nothinglikeaustralia.com/nz/accessible/entries/nsw/0012307.htm

http://athebeach.blogspot.com/2008/12/galveston-tx-sea-wall-beach-project.html

http://www.minnesotawildanimalmanagement.com/raccoon_removal.html

http://www.edibleblog.com/eggs-essential-food/

http://newsaction.tigweb.org/article/peru-s-polluted-pacific

http://flcoastalandocean.org/aboutfcoc

http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?image=2611&picture=turtle-soup