Issues: Wildlife

Sea Turtles

SCIENTIFIC NAME: sp. var. (superfamily Cheloniodea)

STATUS: Endangered/Threatened (varies by species)

HABITAT: Warm and temperate waters

LIFE HISTORY: Migratory; all species travel up to hundreds of miles between nesting and feeding grounds. Sexual maturity in females ranges by species from 10 years to 35 to 50 years. Females typically nest on same beach where they were hatched.

THREATS: Entanglement in commercial fishing gear; water pollution; underwater noise pollution

FORMER RANGE: Warm and temperate waters worldwide

CURRENT POPULATION: Unknown

For centuries, humans have hunted these gentle sea creatures for meat, eggs, skin and shell. Six of seven marine turtle species spend time in U.S. waters—all of them are protected under the Endangered Species Act. While poaching remains a problem, human activity in the oceans and beaches continues to make life difficult for sea turtles.

NRDC is fighting for sea turtle survival on several fronts: by working to reduce the impact of California's longline fisheries on sea turtles; by working to control harmful noise pollution in the oceans; and by suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Endangered Species Act for failing to protect sea turtles and other endangered marine species from the herbicide atrazine, which has contaminated the Chesapeake Bay as well as several major midwestern and southern rivers.

Photos: Dawn in the Amazon © Minden Pictures; Western Gray Whale © Norbert Wu; big leaf mahogany © Dionicio Cruz, courtesy of Kendra McSweeney; Sea turtles © NOAA/Dept. of Commerce