Marine Turtle Conservation and Welfare

All seven species of marine turtle face multiple threats including bycatch, plastic ingestion, nesting beach disturbance, and climate change affecting nest sex ratios.

Key Facts

All seven marine turtle species are listed as threatened or endangered
Females return to their birth beaches to nest, making nesting beaches irreplaceable
Warming sands are producing almost entirely female hatchlings in some populations
Plastic ingestion causes intestinal blockages, buoyancy problems, and starvation
Bycatch in longline and trawl fisheries kills an estimated 85,000 turtles annually

Welfare Considerations

Turtles entangled in fishing gear drown over extended periods. Those that surface for air but remain entangled suffer extended distress before death or rescue. Plastic ingestion causes prolonged suffering as turtles cannot pass or regurgitate plastic. Light pollution from beach development disorients nesting females and hatchlings. Boat strikes cause traumatic injuries requiring expensive rehabilitation. The scale of human-caused mortality vastly exceeds the capacity of rehabilitation programs.

What You Can Do

Reduce single-use plastic use to reduce ocean plastic pollution
Support turtle-friendly beach lighting campaigns in nesting regions
Choose seafood from fisheries with turtle bycatch reduction measures
Donate to marine turtle rehabilitation and nesting beach protection programs