All seven sea turtle species are threatened or endangered — their welfare is affected by bycatch, plastic pollution, nesting habitat loss, and climate change.
Sea turtle conservation and welfare intersect in important ways. Turtles caught in longline hooks and drowned experience acute welfare harm; turtles with stomachs full of plastic experience chronic pain and starvation; turtles whose nesting beaches are disturbed or lost face reproductive failure. The individual welfare of long-lived sea turtles matters both in itself and as a conservation concern — each mature individual represents decades of survival to reach reproductive age. Conservation programs that protect nesting beaches, reduce bycatch through fishing gear modifications, and address plastic pollution in marine environments simultaneously improve individual welfare and population prospects.