Scientists are discovering that sea turtles are highly contaminated with industrial chemicals and pesticides

ByBrett Israel and Environmental Health News

“From the moment they are born, sea turtles fight to survive. Buried alive, they dig themselves out and evade hungry crabs and birds as they crawl to the ocean, where they begin a long and treacherous migration. One out of 1,000 will survive into adulthood. And those that do will bear a toxic burden.

Scientists are discovering that sea turtles, long ignored by toxicologists who study wildlife, are highly contaminated with industrial chemicals and pesticides.

Loggerhead turtles have altered immune systems and smaller eggs that some studies have linked to contaminants. These chemicals kill turtle cells in lab experiments, and based on research in other marine life, scientists suspect that sea turtles may be vulnerable to thyroid, liver and neurological damage.

No one, however, knows the extent to which sea turtles in the wild may be harmed.

While other ocean creatures, including whales, seals and some fish, are well-studied, the chemical threats to sea turtles remain mostly hidden under a shell.

Decimated by climate change, poaching, accidental snaring and ocean trash, all U.S. species of sea turtles are protected by the Endangered Species Act, which makes studying them difficult.”

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From Science World Report, By Catherine Griffin.

The massive Pacific leatherback sea turtle is known for its long, 6,000-mile trek from the U.S. West Coast to its breeding grounds in Indonesia. The largest turtles on Earth, they can grow up to seven feet long and exceed 2,000 pounds. They’re currently the last, living representatives of a family of turtles that traces its evolutionary roots back more than 100 million years. Yet now, these turtles may be going extinct–and quickly. Researchers estimate that in only 20 years, we could see the last of the leatherback sea turtles.

The announcement comes after a study was published this week in the journal Ecosphere. It estimates that a mere 500 leatherback turtles currently breed at their last, large nesting site in the Pacific. The population has plummetted from the thousands that previously nested there.

In order to track this decline, researchers examined population numbers from the 1980s and onward. In the past 27 years, the scientists noted that the western Pacific leatherback turtle numbers have dropped by a staggering 78 percent, placing its status firmly as critically endangered.

Currently, more than 75 percent of the population of these turtles nest at the remote Bird’s Head Peninsula on New Guinea. In the last breeding season alone, 489 turtles nested there. While this makes population numbers easier to track, it also makes the turtles a target. Local fishermen still capture and kill leatherbacks in order to consume the meat. In addition, they also harvest the turtle eggs that are laid.

Humans impacts aren’t the only threats these turtles have to contend with, though. On some beachs as few as 20 percent of eggs hatch due to increased beach temperatures. These temperatures could further worsen due to climate change, leaving fewer viable offspring.

“If the decline continues, leatherback turtles will become extinct in the Pacific Ocean within 20 years,” said Than Wibbels, a member of the research team studying the turtles, in an interview with Reuters.

It’s not all grim, though. The Atlantic leatherback, which is genetically different from the Pacific leatherback, has made a comeback in recent years. Due to mutual country agreements to ban harvesting adults or eggs on beaches, they have been able to reproduce successfully and rebuild population numbers. If the same can be done for the Pacific leatherback, the turtle may be able to avoid extinction.

By Serge Dedina

Marine biologist Dr. Wallace J. Nichols has worked tirelessly to preserve the world’s endangered sea turtles and raise awareness about our need to conserve our oceans. He just returned from a trip to Baja California’s Magdalena Bay, where he spent time in the field with fishermen who help preserve endangered sea turtles.

Through his BLUEMIND annual conferences he is helping us understand the role the ocean can play in our health and cognitive function. J. and I co-founded WiLDCOAST together in 1999. Today he is one of the the world’s most passionate and innovative ocean conservationists.

Dedina: In the past few years you’ve helped shed light on looking at connections between neuroscience and the ocean, which will be the subject of a new book you are writing. What are some of the insights you’ve gained into the new emerging field of neuroconservation?

Nichols:Our successes in Baja with sea turtles, apart from the mountain of scientific ecological research, depends heavily on the emotional commitment to saving the animals among the many people working so hard along the coast.

It’s said that conservation is really about managing people and changing behaviors. If we don’t understand what’s happening in the human brain, we’re really in the dark. So the idea of studying neuroscience has been on my mind for a long time. In recent years we’ve connected the best neuroscientists in the world with the best ocean advocates and explorers to ask some very interesting questions about “our brains on ocean.”

If Coca-Cola can use neuroscience to sell sugar water, we can use neuroscience for the ocean.

Dedina: You have your third BLUEMIND conference coming up. What is the purpose of the conference and why is it being held on the East Coast this year?

Nichols: Each year we hold BLUEMIND at a different location, with a slightly different general theme. This year the theme is “Last Child in the Water” and we’ll explore the role of water in healthy cognitive function. Holding the summit on Block Island makes it easy for our colleagues in New England to attend. We may jump the pond and take the conference to the UK in 2014.

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International marine scientists warned it will be vital to protect key marine turtle nesting grounds, and areas that may be suitable for turtle nesting in the future, to ensure that the marine reptiles have a better chance of withstanding climate change.

A new study reveals that some turtle populations in the West Indian Ocean, Northeast Indian Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, East Atlantic Ocean and the East Pacific Ocean are among the least likely to recover from the impacts of climate change.

“To give marine turtles a better chance of coping with climate change, we have to protect their nesting sites and to address threats such as bycatch and coastal development,” says Dr Mariana Fuentes from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) and James Cook University.

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