The Environmental Effects Of The Leatherback Sea Turtles

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The Leatherback sea turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, is the largest sea turtle species and is highly migrational. They inhabit every ocean and are endangered in all of them (James et al. 2005, Roe et al. 2014). They require warm waters and tropical beaches for nesting and juvenile development, and cold Northern waters for foraging (Eckert 2002). Their diet is dependent on gelatinous zooplankton (Jones et al. 2012). Their major threats include pollution, bycatch, and egg harvesting. Many initiatives have been created to help their recovery including protecting critical beach and adjacent water habitats and stricter fishing regulations. Important nesting beaches in the discussed area are in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, Panama, Puerto Rico, and Florida (NMFS 1979, NMFS and USFWS 2013). Due to their expansive migrations, international cooperation has been necessary and resulted in international conventions to help regulate international trade of eggs and individuals and protecting ocean habitat between countries (CITES 1973, CBD 1992, IAC 2001, CMS 2011). Pollution affects Leatherbacks ...

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