EMA: Ill-treating leatherback turtles can cost you $100,000 – via Herp Digest

Rhondor Dowlat, The Guardian, 4/4/18 

A file photo of an unidentified woman sitting on a leatherback turtle. If caught in the act perpetrators can face hefty fines of up to $1000,00 or two years in prison.

People who are caught harming or ill-treating the leatherback turtle can face a hefty fine of $100,000 and jail for two years.

Recently a 39-second video surfaced on social media showing a leatherback turtle attempting to return to the sea after laying her eggs but was being hampered by several men who were seen pulling on its flippers and trying to drag it back to the shore. One of the men was then seen stepping onto the back of the turtle while attempting to place a child on it. Another person was seen climbing onto the turtle’s back.

As the turtle nesting season official opened on March 1, the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) said the leatherback turtle is an environmentally sensitive species and strongly condemned the ill-treatment of the leatherback turtles.

The Authority made an appeal to citizens to refrain from harming turtles, and by extension all wildlife in general.

“It is especially disheartening that after concerted efforts by government and non-governmental entities to sensitise persons against sitting or riding on the carapace of leatherback turtles, this is still happening now,” the EMA said in a release.

The EMA is expected to conduct further investigations into this recent incident with a view to determining the relevant enforcement actions to be taken.

The EMA will also collaborate with the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries on other possible actions to be taken as the leatherback turtle is protected under the Conservation of Wildlife Act.

Concerned persons and those who may have information to help the EMA in its investigations are asked to contact EMA’s Emergency Response Hotline at 680-9588.’

In the event of an environmental incident or for complaints, emails can be sent to complaints@ema.co.tt. or visit the EMA website at www.ema.co.tt

Natural Nomads, Leatherback Turtles Opt To Stay In Place Along The Mozambique Coast - via Herp Digest

Date: December 2, 2016

Source: Cornell University

Endangered leatherback sea turtles are known for their open-ocean migratory nature and nomadic foraging habits -- traveling thousands of miles. But a Cornell naturalist and his colleagues have discovered an area along the Mozambique coast that the turtles have made their permanent home, according to a study published in Nature's Scientific Reports, Nov. 25.

Understanding this new behavior could assist scientists in helping boost the turtles' population and lift them from environmental peril.

"They seem to be staying there year-round. We've found these turtles -- a supposed nomadic migrant -- congregating in coastal waters," said Steve Morreale, senior research associate in the Department of Natural Resources. "We've identified an area where leatherback turtles are clustered together. Having a long-term, resident population of densely congregated leatherback turtles -- in coastal waters -- that's really remarkable. It clarifies the ecology of this species, and as a result, we've broadened our scientific view.”

Leatherbacks, the world's largest reptiles, do not have hard shells like other turtles. Instead, they have a softer, leather-like shell. The turtles can weigh up to 1,500 pounds and are eating machines, as one can nosh daily on hundreds of pounds of its favorite meal -- jellyfish. Leatherback sea turtles and jellyfish are found throughout the world's oceans, but the authors of this study think that these leatherbacks are likely enjoying a bountiful jellyfish supply in the Mozambique Channel.

Morreale and his colleagues tracked electronically tagged turtles using satellite telemetry. As expected, some leatherbacks journeyed up to 6,000 miles into the Indian and Atlantic oceans. But, nearly half were tracked into the Mozambique Channel, which runs between Mozambique and Madagascar, off the southern African coast. They further confirmed the turtles' homebody behavior by taking skin samples and examining the animals' stable isotope signatures, which provide a long-term chemical analysis of where the animal feeds, at which level of the food web they eat and whether they feed in the open ocean or along the coastal waters.

A leatherback sea turtle hatchling heads out to sea.

Scientists had seen this coastal feeding behavior before, but believed that leatherbacks sought only seasonal refuge along continental shores and coastal waters. 

The vast oceanic distances that migrating leatherback turtles travel complicate conservation efforts, explained Morreale, but grasping this new behavior "makes it a little easier to protect, regulate and to enforce protection -- especially if it is in one country like Mozambique -- than if they were spread throughout the world's oceans."

Story Source:

Materials provided by Cornell University. Original written by Blaine Friedlander. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

/story_source

Journal Reference:

Nathan J. Robinson, Stephen J. Morreale, Ronel Nel, Frank V. Paladino.

Coastal leatherback turtles reveal conservation hotspot. Scientific

Reports, 2016; 6: 37851 DOI: 10.1038/srep37851

Leatherback Turtles Among Treasure Trove Of Fossils Unearthed At O.C. Construction Site - Via Herp Digest

February 13, 2015 6:02 PM

TUSTIN (CBSLA.com) — California leatherback turtles are among a treasure trove of fossils unearthed at an Orange County construction site.

Experts say the turtles are the most exciting and significant fossils uncovered over the past several weeks.

The construction site being excavated was once 3,000 feet underneath the sea. It includes the roadway that is being extended at La Pata Avenue between San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente.

“There’s areas that have never been touched before. We hired a paleontological firm to help us monitor that area [and] to make sure that we protect those resources,” said Nardy Kahn, an Orange County Public Works manager.

Other ancient finds include a walrus fossil dating back as far as 7 million years along with hundreds of other fossils.

That fossil and others are being meticulous uncovered and preserved inside a Tustin laboratory.

“Every time you take an animal out of a rock, it’s the first time a person’s ever touched it because it’s been locked in rock since 3 to 7 million years ago,” said Lloyd Sample, a paleontologist.

After the pieces are dug out of the rocks, those rocks are being sifted through a machine, which has uncovered more fossil fragments and even a shark’s tooth.

These fossils and those of whales, seals, dolphins and fish will be on display for the public in two years.

Identifying Danger Zones Could Help Prevent Sea-Turtle Deaths

By Wynne Parry, LiveScience Contributor | January 18, 2014 09:44am ET

When ocean-dwelling leatherback turtles encounter fishing lines or nets, the results can be deadly for the large marine animals. To help protect these turtles, researchers have identified "hotspots" where some of these deadly encounters are likely occur in the Pacific Ocean.

Leatherback turtles, which weigh up to 2,000 lbs. (900 kilograms), don't have a solid shell. Instead, their shell is made of bones connected by cartilage and covered by leathery skin (hence their name), said James R. Spotila, a study researcher and an ecologist at Drexel University in Philadelphia who studies these and other sea turtles.

Continued

New law to protect Puerto Rico leatherback turtles

Puerto Rico has introduced a new law protecting a swathe of the island's coast that has become a major nesting site for the world's largest turtle, the leatherback.

The Northeast Ecological Corridor comprises 14 sq km (5.4 sq miles) of the island's coast.

The law ends a 15-year battle which pitted developers against green activists and several celebrities.

Leatherback turtles are a highly endangered species.

"Today this important, highly ecologically valuable resource is being protected forever... History is being made," said Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla, according to the island's Vocero news site.

Developers had been looking to build hotels, golf courses and luxury homes in the area, arguing that this would boost the local economy and create jobs.

But the area - boasting lush vegetation and pristine beaches - is now likely to become a centre for eco-tourism.

As well as being a nesting site for the leatherback turtle, the area is home to more than 860 different types of flora and fauna.

It also contains a bioluminescent bay, featuring micro-organisms which glow in the dark.

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22140670

Orientation of migrating leatherback turtles in relation to ocean currents – via Herp Digest

Animal Behaviour

Volume 84, Issue 6, December 2012, Pages 1491–1500

S. Gallia,

P. Gasparb,

S. Fossettec,

B. Calmettesb,

G.C. Haysc,

J.R.E. Lutjeharmsd, +,

P. Luschia, , 

a Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

b Collecte Localisation Satellites, Direction Océanographie Spatiale, Ramonville, France

c Department of Biosciences, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, U.K.

d Department of Oceanography, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa

During their offshore movements, leatherback turtles, Dermochelys coriacea, associate frequently with ocean currents and mesoscale oceanographic features such as eddies, and their movements are often in accordance with the current flow. To investigate how individual turtles oriented their ground- and water-related movements in relation to the currents encountered on their journeys, we used oceanographic techniques to estimate the direction and intensity of ocean currents along the course of 15 leatherbacks tracked by satellite during their long-distance movements in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. For all individuals a non-negligible component of active swimming was evident throughout the journeys, even when their routes closely followed the currents, but overall the turtle water-related orientation was random with respect to current directions. For turtles in the North Atlantic, the ground-related movements largely derived from the turtles' active swimming, while in the Indian Ocean currents contributed substantially to the observed movements. The same pattern was shown when distinct parts of the routes corresponding to foraging bouts and travelling segments were considered separately. These findings substantiate previous qualitative observations of leatherback movements, by revealing that turtles were not simply drifting passively but rather swam actively during most of their journeys, although with a random orientation with respect to currents. Our analysis did not provide any indication that leatherbacks were able to detect the current drift they were exposed to, further highlighting the navigational challenges they face in their oceanic wanderings.

Highlights

► We estimate ocean currents along the routes of 15 satellite-tracked leatherbacks. 

► We assess how individual turtles oriented their movements in relation to currents. 

► The turtles swam actively during most of their journeys, even when following currents. 

► Their water-related orientation was at random with respect to current directions. 

► No indication was found that leatherbacks were able to detect current drift.

Sea Turtles don't adapt well to hotter beaches - via Herp Digest

Science Daily, 7/2/12- For eastern Pacific populations of leatherback turtles, the 21st century could be the last. New research suggests that climate change could exacerbate existing threats and nearly wipe out the population. Deaths of turtle eggs and hatchlings in nests buried at hotter, drier beaches are the leading projected cause of the potential climate-related decline, according to a new study in the journal Nature Climate Change by a research team from Drexel University, Princeton University, other institutions and government agencies.

Leatherbacks, the largest sea turtle species, are among the most critically endangered due to a combination of historical and ongoing threats including egg poaching at nesting beaches and juvenile and adult turtles being caught in fishing operations. The new research on climate dynamics suggests that climate change could impede this population's ability to recover. If actual climate patterns follow projections in the study, the eastern Pacific population of leatherback turtles will decline by 75 percent by the year 2100.

Leatherback turtle births naturally ebb and flow from year to year in response to climate variations, with more hatchlings, and rare pulses of male hatchlings, entering the eastern Pacific Ocean in cooler, rainier years. Female turtles are more likely to return to nesting beaches in Costa Rica to lay eggs in years when they have more jellyfish to eat, and jellyfish in the eastern Pacific are likely more abundant during cooler seasons. Turtle eggs and hatchlings are also more likely to survive in these cooler, rainier seasons associated with the La Niña climate phase, as this research team recently reported in the journal PLoS ONE. In addition, temperature inside the nest affects turtles' sex ratio, with most male hatchlings emerging during cooler, rainier seasons to join the predominantly-female turtle population.

Jellyfish Hunt Hurts Pacific Leatherback Turtles

When it comes to leatherback turtles, the world's largest species of sea turtle, there's a conundrum: The species itself is critically endangered, but at least one leatherback population is stable — on the rise, even — while others plummet.

Now, researchers may have discovered why some of these turtles are doing better than others. Studying two leatherback turtle populations, one that is declining and one that seems to be increasing, the researchers say the answer might be simple: food.

"We saw very big differences in their traveling speeds from their nesting beaches to their foraging grounds," said Helen Bailey, an ecologist at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science who led the study. "We take that to mean one population is stopping to forage on a nice dense patch of prey, while the other group keeps moving because it's constantly in search of food."

These differences in swimming and eating habits may hold important clues for helping leatherback turtles around the world recover and thrive, Bailey told OurAmazingPlanet.

Read more: http://www.livescience.com/20373-leatherback-turtles-endangered-food.html

A potential tool to mitigate the impacts of climate change to the Caribbean leatherback sea turtle - via Herp Digest

JUAN PATINO-MARTINEZ*† , ADOLFO MARCO*, LILIANA QUINONE S * and LUCY HAWKES‡

Abstract

It is now well understood that climate change has the potential to dramatically affect biodiversity, with effects on spatio-temporal distribution patterns, trophic relationships and survivorship. In the marine turtles, sex is determined byincubation temperature, such that warming temperatures could lead to a higher production of female hatchlings. By measuring nest temperature, and using a model to relate the incubation temperature to sex ratio, we estimate that Caribbean Colombian leatherback sea turtles currently produce approximately 92% female hatchlings. We modelledthe relationship between incubation, sand and air temperature, and under all future climate change scenarios (0.4–6.0 °C warming over the next 100 years), complete feminization could occur, as soon as the next decade. However,male producing refugia exist in the periphery of smaller nests (0.7 °C cooler at the bottom than at the centre), within beaches (0.3 °C cooler in the vegetation line and inter-tidal zone) and between beaches (0.4 °C higher on dark beaches), and these natural refugia could be assigned preferential conservation status. However, there exists a need to develop strategies that may ameliorate deleterious effects of climate-induced temperature changes in the future.

We experimentally shaded clutches using screening material, and found that it was effective in reducing nest temperature, producing a higher proportion of male hatchlings, without compromising the fitness or hatching success. Artificial shade in hatcheries is a very useful and simple tool in years or periods of high environmental temperatures. Nevertheless, this is only an emergency response to the severe impacts that will eventually have to be reversed if we are to guarantee the stability of the populations.

Please, feel free to email me at juanpatino@ebd.csic.es for a copy 

Best

j.

 Juan Patiño Martínez. Ph.D.

Estación Biológica de Doñana

Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)

Depto. Etología y Conservación de la Biodiversidad

Av. Américo Vespucio s/n 41013 Sevilla

Tfno: (+34) 954 232 340 - (+34) 954466700 Ext. 1078

Movil (+34) 699 12 73 32

http://www.ebd.csic.es

juanpatino@ebd.csic.es

Leatherback Turtle Migration Study Identifies Pacific Danger Zones for Endangered Species (via Herp Digest)

ScienceDaily (Mar. 1, 2012) — The majestic leatherback turtle is the largest sea turtle in the world, growing to more than 6 feet in length. It is also one of the most threatened. A major new study of migration patterns has identified high-use areas -- potential danger zones--in the Pacific Ocean for this critically endangered species. This new understanding could help inform decisions about fishing practices to help reduce further deaths of this fragile species.

"The study shows that leatherbacks can be found throughout the Pacific Ocean and identifies high-use areas that are of particular importance to their survival," said lead author Dr. Helen Bailey of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. "This information on their movements is essential for identifying hot spots and assessing where limiting fishing at particular times of year may be effective for protecting leatherbacks."

Leatherbacks are the widest-ranging marine turtle species and are known to migrate across entire ocean basins. Female leatherbacks lay their eggs on tropical nesting beaches, but then migrate to foraging areas to feed on jellyfish. These long-distance migrations are likely to increase the risk that these animals may be caught in fishing gear, undermining conservation efforts to protect turtles on their nesting beaches. Interaction with fisheries is believed to be a major cause of death, which is of particular concern in the eastern Pacific Ocean, where the number of leatherback turtles has dropped by more than 90% since 1980.

"Leatherback turtles are long-lived animals that take a long time to reach maturity, so when they are killed in fishing gear it has a huge impact on the population," said study coordinator Dr. James Spotila of Drexel University. "Their numbers are declining so rapidly it is critical that measures are taken quickly to ensure these animals don't go extinct."

Leatherback turtles can travel enormous distances between their nesting and feeding sites. In the Pacific Ocean there are two populations of leatherback turtles that nest in the eastern and western Pacific. The study used state-of-the art satellite tracking, the largest satellite telemetry data set ever assembled for leatherbacks, to track 135 turtles. Leatherbacks in the eastern Pacific were tagged at the nesting sites in Costa Rica and Mexico. The western Pacific population was tagged at two nesting sites in Indonesia and at foraging grounds off the coast of California. The tracks were combined with oceanographic satellite data provided by NOAA, NASA, and a number of international partner space agencies to provide important insights into their long distance migrations.

The study found that the western Pacific population nesting in Indonesia traveled to many different feeding sites in the South China Sea, Indonesian seas, southeastern Australia, and the U.S. West Coast, mainly in highly productive coastal areas. This wide dispersal allows for a greater likelihood to find food. It also means that the turtles are more vulnerable to being caught unintentionally by fishing gear in coastal and offshore areas.

The eastern Pacific population had a very different migration pattern, traveling from their nesting sites in Mexico and Costa Rica to the southeast Pacific. These turtles migrated south and tended to feed in offshore upwelling areas where their food, almost exclusively jellyfish, may be concentrated. The more limited feeding areas of the east Pacific turtles makes them more vulnerable to any changes that occur to the distribution or abundance of jellyfish in this area. Deaths caused by human activities, such as being caught in fishing gear, also pose a greater risk of causing this population to go extinct because they have a smaller range than the western Pacific leatherbacks.

Experts from around the world joined together to work on this landmark study of leatherback turtle migration. The collaboration included Helen Bailey of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science; James Spotila of Drexel University; George Shillinger and Barbara Block from Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University; Stephen Morreale of Cornell University; Frank Paladino of Indiana-Perdue University; Scott Eckert of the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network; Rotney Piedra of Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas; Creusa Hitipeuw of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature-Indonesia; Ricardo Tapilatu of The State University of Papau; and Peter Dutton, Scott Benson, Steven Bograd, Tomoharu Eguchi and David Foley of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The study, "Identification of distinct movement patterns in Pacific leatherback turtle populations influenced by ocean conditions," appears in the March issue of Ecological Applications.

The study was supported by funding the from Lenfest Ocean Program, the Leatherback Trust, the Tagging of Pacific Predators program of the Census of Marine Life, and the NOAA-Fisheries Service.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

Leatherback Turtle Migration Study Identifies Pacific Danger Zones for Endangered Species

ScienceDaily (Mar. 1, 2012) — The majestic leatherback turtle is the largest sea turtle in the world, growing to more than 6 feet in length. It is also one of the most threatened. A major new study of migration patterns has identified high-use areas -- potential danger zones--in the Pacific Ocean for this critically endangered species. This new understanding could help inform decisions about fishing practices to help reduce further deaths of this fragile species.

"The study shows that leatherbacks can be found throughout the Pacific Ocean and identifies high-use areas that are of particular importance to their survival," said lead author Dr. Helen Bailey of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. "This information on their movements is essential for identifying hot spots and assessing where limiting fishing at particular times of year may be effective for protecting leatherbacks."

Leatherbacks are the widest-ranging marine turtle species and are known to migrate across entire ocean basins. Female leatherbacks lay their eggs on tropical nesting beaches, but then migrate to foraging areas to feed on jellyfish. These long-distance migrations are likely to increase the risk that these animals may be caught in fishing gear, undermining conservation efforts to protect turtles on their nesting beaches. Interaction with fisheries is believed to be a major cause of death, which is of particular concern in the eastern Pacific Ocean, where the number of leatherback turtles has dropped by more than 90% since 1980.


Read on:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120301103754.htm

New 40,000 square mile haven for Pacific’s leatherbacks

But how do they get there safely?

January 2012: Protection for 40,000 square miles of protected critical ocean habitat off the shores of Washington, Oregon and California are now in place - creating a haven for the endangered Pacific leatherback sea turtle. The new protection laws establish critical habitat in areas where leatherbacks feed on jellyfish after swimming 6,000 miles across the ocean from nests in Indonesia.

This is the first permanently designated area for leatherbacks in continental US waters and, although it is substantially smaller than the original proposals for 70,600 square miles, it is the largest area set aside to protect sea turtle habitat in the United States or its territories.

Now we need migration safeguards for these ancient animals‘Habitat protections are vital to the survival of leatherbacks. We urgently need migration safeguards for these ancient animals as they make the longest, most epic journey of any creature on the planet to get to our West Coast every year,' said Catherine Kilduff of Florida's Center for Biological Diversity.

However, there are concerns that the new rules do not extend to protect turtles' migratory paths from commercial fishing, water pollution and marine vessel traffic. The new regulation excludes protections for migration through these habitats and also excludes consideration of dangers to the turtles from fishing, such as mile-long drift nets used for swordfish off California.

‘This is a major decision to protect feeding hotspots for endangered leatherback sea turtles, but the federal government failed to acknowledge that the turtles need safe passage to get there,' said Ben Enticknap, Oceana's Pacific project manager.

‘Leatherbacks finally have a safe haven along our coast, but still face extinction due growing threats from fisheries, pollution and ship strikes,' said Teri Shore, programme director at SeaTurtles.org in California.

Pacific leatherback population declined by more than 95 per centMile-long drift gillnets and longline gear used to catch swordfish, sharks and tunas are the two types of fishing gear most commonly known to capture and kill leatherback sea turtles. While current regulations restrict fishing to protect these sea turtles, the Fisheries Service is currently developing proposals to expand the use of these fishing gears into areas important to the leatherback.

The largest of all sea turtles, leatherbacks can grow up to nine feet long and weigh up to 2,000 pounds. Pacific leatherback sea turtles have declined more than 95 per cent since the 1980s; as few as 2,300 adult female western Pacific leatherbacks remain. The species dates from the time of the dinosaurs, having survived for 100 million years virtually unchanged; but now they face the danger of extinction.

The leatherback sea turtles feeding off the US West Coast make the longest known migration of any reptile, across the Pacific Ocean where they nest on beaches in Papua, Indonesia. They make this great migration to feed on jellyfish in the productive ocean waters of the American Pacific. They are generally found off the West Coast in the summer and fall months.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/pacific-leatherback.html

42 million turtles born in 2010-11 nesting season in Mexico, according to Mexican authorities

Times of India, IANS
Dec 22, 2011, 10.52AM IST

MEXICO CITY: Mexican authorities recorded a total of 42.2 million Olive Ridley, Leatherback and Kemp's Ridley sea turtle births during the 2010-11 nesting season, authorities said.

Efforts to secure the protection of female turtles and their nests and safeguard hatchlings' journey to the ocean are led by the National Commission on Natural Protected Areas, or Conanp, at 33 nesting beaches, the Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat said in a statement Tuesday.

Ten of those beaches are natural protected areas, three are located inside biosphere reserves, 15 are internationally designated wetlands sites and the remainder are located in areas without special protection mechanisms, the secretariat said.

Approximately 1.2 million Olive Ridley turtle nests were laid and 23.3 million offspring made their way to the ocean at the Playa de Escobilla sanctuary and Morro Ayuta beach, both located in the southern state of Oaxaca.

A total of 20,574 Kemp's Ridley turtle nests were laid in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas and 534 in the eastern state of Veracruz and an estimated 18.9 million hatchlings reached the sea in those two regions.

"The nesting figure for the latest season is up (compared to the previous season), and therefore the conclusion can be drawn that the population is on the road to recovery," the secretariat said.

In the case of the Leatherback turtle, one of the most threatened turtle species in Mexico, authorities counted a total of 615 nests, mainly on the coasts of the Pacific states of Michoacan, Guerrero and Oaxaca.

In those states, authorities supervised the entrance to the sea of 15,414 Leatherback offspring.

The secretariat estimates that around 1,647 Leatherback turtle nests were laid along the entire Pacific coast during the 2010-11 nesting season.

Invasion of their habitat (beaches) by man, accidental fishing, depredation of their nests by some communities that still consume their flesh and eggs and injuries suffered by boats' outboard motors are the main dangers sea turtles in Mexico face.

Mexico banned the harvest of sea turtles for commercial or subsistence reasons in April 2006.

(Editor-Anyone out there who could verify this?)

via Herp Digest

Jellyfish may be helping leatherback sea turtles make a comeback (Via Herp Digest)

Jellyfish may be helping leatherback sea turtles make a comeback
Massive blooms of jellyfish are big source of food for endangered turtles

By Ludmilla Lelis, Orlando Sentinel
11:06 p.m. EST, November 25, 2011

It's the annual bane of beachgoers: massive "blooms" of jellyfish. This past summer, when the blooms hit Volusia and Brevard counties, thousands of ocean swimmers felt their sting.

But researchers say the very creatures that are such a nuisance to people could be fueling the comeback of one of Florida's endangered species: the leatherback sea turtle.

The largest of the marine reptiles, leatherbacks used to be rare visitors to Florida shores. But over the past two decades, the number of nests dug at Florida beaches has been increasing. This year's count is 600 nests, one of the highest ever at beaches tracked for long-term trends. Nest counts are the main method of assessing sea-turtle population trends.

This success story of sea-turtle conservation has a possible twist, said Kelly Stewart, a researcher with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. When jellyfish are abundant, the leatherbacks have a veritable feast, which could help the female turtles reproduce more often.

"Jellyfish, and any gelatinous species, are the preferred food source for leatherback sea turtles," said Stewart, who completed her doctoral thesis at Duke University on these turtle trends. "So, if there are more jellyfish, that may not be good for people, but is good for the leatherbacks."

Jellyfish aren't really fish but gelatinous creatures related to corals. There are more than 1,000 species around the world, and they have a familiar, umbrella-like body and tentacles. Most have the ability to sting their prey, but their main predators, such as leatherback turtles, seem to be immune to the venom.

In recent years, there have been giant blooms around the world, including several cases involving a jellyfish species that is foreign to an area. Cocoa Beach had such a phenomenon over the Memorial Day weekend with an invasion of mauve stingers, a deep ocean jellyfish that is rare in Florida but common in the Mediterranean.

Although there is some evidence that the blooms are increasing in size and frequency, it's difficult to be sure because there aren't a lot of data on the history of blooms, according to a University of Washington study.

Stewart said a connection between more jellyfish and more leatherback nests needs further study but offers a possible explanation for the resurgence of the turtles.

Ranked as an endangered species, leatherbacks are the largest sea turtles and the only ones lacking a hard shell. In the late 1990s, leatherback nest numbers started to climb dramatically, with some Florida beaches seeing annual increases of as much as 16 percent, Stewart said.

Also, the turtle, which historically nested only in South Florida, has been digging nests farther north. Volusia County, for example, rarely saw a leatherback nest 20 years ago but this year had 13, a record. A leatherback turtle that had been tagged with a satellite tracker even dug a nest in North Carolina after digging nests in Florida, Stewart said.

"It is a remarkable increase, and one of the marvels of sea turtles," said Anne Meylan, research administrator with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. A co-author of Stewart's study, she credits strong efforts to protect nesting beaches and better monitoring.

However, the study found that nests were increasing even in other countries where the protections are weaker. Stewart said she thinks that means the increases relate to what's happening to turtles in the Atlantic as they travel.

That turtles are reaping a benefit from jellyfish feasts would make sense because of the need for females to fatten up to reproduce. Sea turtles typically nest only every few years, building energy reserves during non-nesting seasons. A typical nest contains 100 or so eggs, and turtles often dig two or three nests a season - all of which quickly depletes the reserves, Stewart said.

But if leatherback turtles have plenty of jellyfish to eat, they may be able to fatten up quicker and reproduce more often, she said. "These nesting cycles can be reduced if they don't have a limit on their food supply."

Leatherback turtle washed up on Cumbrian beach, Ireland (Via Herp Digest)

Leatherback turtle washed up on Cumbrian beach, Ireland
By Victoria Brenan, News & Star, 10/27/11

An amazing discovery was made on a Cumbrian beach earlier this month when a leatherback turtle washed ashore.

The reptile - which is critically endangered - is not often seen in the waters around Cumbria but the latest appearance has confirmed the breed's existence in the Irish sea.

They say the turtles have been spotted swimming in the Irish sea, a rich food source for them because of the high levels of plankton and algae but numbers of them have dwindled worldwide due to egg theft.

The male turtle was found by a member of the public who alerted Cumbria Wildlife Trust after making the grim discovery at St Bees around a week ago.

"It was in such a bad condition it's not easy to say [how it died]," said Alan Wright, of the trust.
"We are still investigating.

"[Other ones] have either been killed by boat propellers or eaten a plastic bag and died. There's good chance there would be some human involvement in its death."

Mr Wright said the discovery was 'good and bad news.'

"It's good in that we know they are in the sea but obviously bad in that it's dead. We do get the odd one washing up on shore in Cumbria."

He said they believed the turtle was between 10 and 15 years old and said they could live for hundreds of years.

The largest one ever found in the UK was reportedly washed up in Wales. It was nearly 10ft long and weighed 916 kilos, equivalent to a Mini.

The turtle's body was removed by trust officers working with marine bodies, Defra and Natural England.
Experts are now trying to establish how it died.

USFW to revisit leatherback nesting designation

Corridor is important spawning place for turtle by The Daily Sun staff

Revisions should be made to the endangered leatherback sea turtle's current critical habitat designation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined.

The critical habitat for the leatherback is one of several species to be studied in depth by the Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to determine how best to protect it.

However, because it enjoys international protections, it is being left towards the end of the study, which could be critical for some of the five species under scrutiny.

The decision is the result of a 90-day finding and a 12-month determination on a petition to designate critical habitat for the leatherback in Puerto Rico. A comprehensive status review for this species, federally listed as endangered since 1970, will be completed, and critical changes in habitat policy will be considered.

Until then, the current critical habitat designation remains in effect.

Areas within the designation, as well as areas that support leatherback sea turtles outside of the designation, continue to be subject to conservation actions under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.

In March 1978, the Service designated as critical habitat for the leatherback beach area in St. Croix, now the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge. The Sierra Club petitioned for the critical habitat designation to
be revised to include the coastline of the Northeast Ecological Corridor of Puerto Rico, a 132-foot stretch of beach from Luquillo to Fajardo including the beaches known as San Miguel I and II, Paulinas, El Convento
Norte, and Seven Seas, all of which are over five miles long.

Beaches along the Corridor are important nesting grounds for the leatherback, with an average of 213 nests, according to the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Together, Puerto Rico
beaches hosted between 469 and 882 leatherback nests each year between 2000 and 2005. The adult leatherback turtle population in the North Atlantic Ocean is estimated at 34,000 to 94,000.

Critical habitat for the leatherback will be fully assessed when the Service and the NMFS conduct the status review for the leatherback.

Following five-year reviews for sea turtle species in 2007, the agencies decided to review five of the federally listed sea turtles to determine the application of the distinct population segment policy. The recommended
status reviews will be conducted on the loggerhead sea turtle, green sea turtle, olive ridley sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, and hawksbill sea turtle, in that order. The leatherback was selected as one of the last
species to receive a full status review because as an endangered species it receives full protection under the ESA.

Critical habitat is a term in the Endangered Species Act that identifiesareas with features essential for the conservation of a threatened orendangered species, and which may require special management or protection. Designation of critical habitat does not affect land ownership or establish a refuge or preserve. A reminder to federal agencies to protect these areas, it has no effect on private landowners taking actions on their land that do not require federal funding or permits. The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats. Visit http://www.fws.gov/southeast/ or http://www.fws.gov/.

http://www.prdailysun.com/index.php?page=news.article&id=1312518834

Leatherback turtle seen in The Minch off Western Isles

The turtle was photographed by researchers and volunteers aboard the Silurian

10 June 2011

A leatherback turtle has been spotted in the sea off Scotland.

Crew members of the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust research vessel Silurian estimated it was about 1.5m (5ft) long.

They saw the turtle in The Minch, a stretch of water between the Western Isles and mainland Scotland on Sunday.

Leatherbacks nest in the tropics but have been spotted previously off the UK, with one sighting made near a beach at Cleveleys in Lancashire last June.

Dave Hanna, skipper of the Silurian, said seeing the turtle was the most exciting moment of his life.
The cold

The leatherback is the world's biggest turtle and listed as Critically Endangered, largely because of poaching for eggs and snaring in fishing gear.

Typically between 1m and 2m long, the animals weigh up to three-quarters of a tonne and can swim across entire oceans, returning to their ancestral nesting sites to breed every few years.

In 2002, a rare green turtle was found dead off Loch Inver on the north west coast of Scotland.

At the time it was believed to be only the third recorded discovery of a green turtle in Scottish waters in more than 150 years.

The animal normally lives in tropical and sub-tropical waters and scientists said it probably perished in the cold after losing its way.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-13727829

Leatherback turtle seen in The Minch off Western Isles (Via Lindsay Selby)

unusual creature off Scottish coast
10 June 2011
Leatherback turtle seen in The Minch off Western Isles

Crew members of the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust research vessel Silurian estimated it was about 1.5m (5ft) long.They saw the turtle in The Minch, a stretch of water between the Western Isles and mainland Scotland on Sunday.Leatherbacks nest in the tropics but have been spotted previously off the UK, with one sighting made near a beach at Cleveleys in Lancashire last June.Dave Hanna, skipper of the Silurian, said seeing the turtle was the most exciting moment of his life.

The leatherback is the world's biggest turtle and listed as Critically Endangered, largely because of poaching for eggs and snaring in fishing gear.Typically between 1m and 2m long, the animals weigh up to three-quarters of a tonne and can swim across entire oceans, returning to their ancestral nesting sites to breed every few years.In 2002, a rare green turtle was found dead off Loch Inver on the north west coast of Scotland.
Read rest see pic here : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-13727829

Leatherback Sea Turtle Nests Increasing in Florida (Via HerpDigest)

ScienceDaily (Apr. 4, 2011) - The number of endangered leatherback sea turtle nests at 68 beaches in Florida has increased by 10.2 percent a year since 1979, according to a new Duke University-led study published in the current issue of the journal Ecological Applications.

Some beaches posted annual increases of more than 16 percent, others as low as 3.1 percent.
The population boom of turtle nests in the Sunshine State mirrors trends observed for other Atlantic leatherback sea turtle populations and is "very encouraging news," says Larry B. Crowder, director of the Duke Center for Marine Conservation. "It suggests that conservation and recovery efforts mandated under the Endangered Species Act are paying off region-wide."

The growth has likely been fueled in part by improved monitoring and protection of nesting beaches over the last 30 years, Crowder says, but other less benign factors may also be at work.
"Nesting is increasing even where beach protection has not been enhanced," he says. "Changing ocean conditions linked to climate variability may be altering the marine food web and creating an environment that favors turtles by reducing the number of predators and increasing the abundance of prey, particularly jellyfish."

With plenty of jellyfish to munch on, breeding-age female leatherbacks may be able to build up fat reserves more quickly, allowing them to nest more frequently, says Kelly Stewart, lead author of the study. Stewart received her Ph.D. from Duke in 2007 and conducted the research on Florida's leatherback sea turtles as her dissertation research. Crowder was her faculty adviser.

Reduced populations of large predators, including the collapse of shark populations in the northwest Atlantic over the past decade, may be playing an even larger role in the turtle boom by decreasing at-sea mortality rates for juvenile and young adult turtles, she says.

Despite being a small population -- scientists estimate fewer than 1,000 leatherbacks nest on Florida beaches -- the increases in nest counts there may help achieve objectives of the federal Endangered Species Act-mandated recovery plan, Stewart says.

News for leatherback populations elsewhere is not so encouraging, however. Populations have plummeted at eastern Pacific nesting beaches in Mexico and Costa Rica, which once hosted thousands of female leatherbacks each year. Extirpation, or local extinction of the species, may be imminent on those beaches.

"The good news here is that while most sea turtles continue to decline, some sea turtles are increasing. We need to understand why they are increasing as much as why they are declining so we can transfer this understanding to other at-risk species, like Pacific leatherbacks," says Crowder.

Stewart, Crowder and their colleagues modeled the 30-year nest counts on Florida beaches using a type of multilevel statistical analysis called Poisson regression, which is frequently used to model counts affected by multiple, often random, factors.

Nest counts are the most reliable way of assessing trends in sea turtle populations because they spend most of their lives in the open ocean, where changes in abundance are difficult to detect.

Stewart is now based at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Southwest Fisheries Science Center in LaJolla, Calif., as a National Research Council postdoctoral fellow. Prior to that, she served as a postdoctoral research associate at the Duke Center for Marine Conservation.
Other co-authors of the study are Michelle Sims of the University of Bath, U.K., and Anne Meylan, Blair Witherington and Beth Brost, all of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Epic Journeys of Turtles Revealed - Leatherbacks in the Atlantic

(PhysOrg.com) --1/15/11 The epic ocean-spanning journeys of the gigantic leatherback turtle in the South Atlantic have been revealed for the first time thanks to groundbreaking research using satellite tracking.

Experts at the Centre for Ecology and Conservation (Cornwall) at the University of Exeter led a five-year study to find out more about these increasingly rare creatures and inform conservation efforts.

The research, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B today, has shed new light on the little-known migration behaviour of these animals following their movement from the world's largest breeding colony in Gabon, Central Africa, as they returned to feeding grounds across the South Atlantic.

The research has been carried out with the help of Parcs Gabon, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), PTMG (Marine Turtle Partnership for Gabon), the Trans-Atlantic Leatherback Conservation Initiative (TALCIN) - a multi-partner effort coordinated by WWF, and SEATURTLE.org.

Out of 25 females studied in the new research, three migratory routes were identified including one 7,563km (4,699 mile) journey straight across the South Atlantic from Africa to South America.

Other routes still involved large distances, as they moved from Gabon to food-rich habitats in the southwest and southeast Atlantic and off the coast of Central Africa. They will stay in these areas for 2-5 years to build up the reserves to reproduce, when they will return to Gabon once again.

Dr Matthew Witt said: "Despite extensive research carried out on leatherbacks, no-one has really been sure about the journeys they take in the South Atlantic until now. What we've shown is that there are three clear migration routes as they head back to feeding grounds after breeding in Gabon, although the numbers adopting each strategy varied each year. We don't know what influences that choice yet, but we do know these are truly remarkable journeys – with one female tracked for thousands of miles travelling in a straight line right across the Atlantic."

In the Pacific ocean, leatherback turtles have seen a precipitous decline over the past three decades – with one nesting colony in Mexico declining from 70,000 in 1982 to just 250 by 1998-9*. The exact cause of the dramatic fall-off in numbers is not clear, but turtle egg harvesting, coastal gillnet fishing, and longline fishing have been identified as potential factors.