All seven species of sea turtle are threatened or endangered. Bycatch in fisheries and nesting beach degradation are among the most significant welfare and conservation challenges they face.
Sea turtles face welfare harm across multiple life stages and threat categories. Bycatch drowning is a terrifying death for an air-breathing reptile — entangled in a net or on a longline hook, unable to surface, the turtle drowns over minutes to hours. Fibropapillomatosis causes progressive disability from tumour growth obstructing vision, movement, and feeding — affected turtles can be found floating helplessly with massive tumour burdens. Ingested plastic causes a slow death from gut blockage and malnutrition. Hatchlings disoriented by artificial lighting crawl toward roads or development rather than the sea, dying from dehydration or predation. The cumulative welfare impact across these threats on hundreds of millions of individual turtles over decades is vast and largely preventable through policy and behaviour change.