The population of green sea turtles living in and around Hawaii and American Pacific island territories is increasing.
From 2002 to 2015, scuba diving researchers circumnavigated 53 islands, atolls and coral reefs throughout the U.S. Pacific, conducting the first comprehensive survey in that region of the turtles’ ocean habitats. Over the 13 years, the divers counted more than 3,400 sea turtles. The vast majority — 90.1 percent — were green sea turtles; only 8.3 percent were hawksbills and 1.6 percent were unidentified.
(Singh, 2019)
Green sea turtles living around Hawaii islands are recovering.
The number of green sea turtles spotted around Hawaii increased by an average of 8 percent each year, the team reports April 24 in PLOS ONE.
(Sarah L. Becker, 2019)
Today’s final rule resulted from a global review of the green sea turtle’s conservation status that found that the sea turtle should be classified into 11 distinct population segments. Although some sea turtle populations are improving significantly due to the protections of the Endangered Species Act, several populations in other parts of the world, which do not benefit from the protections of the Act, continue to struggle. The Mediterranean, South Pacific and western Pacific populations remain in danger of extinction and will remain listed as “endangered.”
(Center for Biological Diversity, 2016 )
The Endangered Species Act helps and is an essential safety net for endangered wildlife.
References
Center for Biological Diversity. (2016 , April 5). Green Sea Turtles Recovering on U.S. Coasts. Retrieved from https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/: https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2016/green-sea-turtles-04-05-2016.html
Sarah L. Becker, R. E. (2019, April 24). PLOS ONE. Retrieved from Densities and drivers of sea turtle populations across Pacific coral reef ecosystems: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0214972
Singh, M. (2019, APRIL 26). Endangered green sea turtles may be making a comeback in the U.S. Pacific. Retrieved from sciencenews: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/endangered-green-sea-turtles-may-be-making-comeback-us-pacific