Photos: Fishing, harvest of eggs blamed for drop in sea turtles
A study shows an 80% population drop in 30 years for one sea turtle sub-group. International fishing and egg harvesting from nesting beaches are blamed.
Sea Turtle Decline
Updated
This July 5, 2017, photo shows a leatherback turtle swimming in the Pacific Ocean near Moss Landing, Calif. All seven distinct populations of leatherbacks in the world are troubled, but a new study shows an 80% population drop in just 30 years for one extraordinary sub-group that migrates 7,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean to feed on jellyfish in cold waters off California. Scientists say international fishing and the harvest of eggs from nesting beaches in the western Pacific are to blame. (Kate Cummings via AP)
Sea Turtle Decline
Updated
In this photo taken Sept. 25, 2007, in the waters off central California, scientists including Scott Benson, at far left, can be seen posing with a giant western Pacific leatherback sea turtle as they take measurements and attach a GOP satellite tracking device to its shell. (Heather Harris/NOAA-ESA Permit #15634 via AP)
Sea Turtle Decline
Updated
In this aerial photo provided by Joel Schumacher, scientists in a research boat pursue a Pacific leatherback turtle in the Pacific Ocean off California in September 2016. (Joel Schumacher via AP)
Sea Turtle Decline
Updated
A leatherback turtle is seen in Monterey, Calif., during a scientific expedition to research the turtles' migration patterns. (Scott Benson via AP)
Sea Turtle Decline
Updated
Scott Benson, an ecologist and leatherback turtle expert with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service, looks out over the water from his research boat in Monterey, Calif., on March 25, 2021. Benson has studied western Pacific leatherback turtles for decades and recently co-authored a study that shows an 80% population drop in just 30 years for one extraordinary sub-group that migrates 7,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean to feed on jellyfish in cold waters off California. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)
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In less than 30 years, a study shows, the number of western Pacific leatherback turtles in the foraging population off California plummeted 80%.
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