Green Sea Turtles Archives

Turtles, Tourism, and Traffic – Keeping Hawaiʻi Honu Safe

August 13, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Sea turtles have long been a key part of the cultural and natural resource heritage of Hawaiʻi. Once sought for their meat, Hawaiian green sea turtles, or honu, suffered a sharp population decline from overharvest in the early 20th century. Today, honu in Hawaiʻi are making a comeback thanks to the support of dedicated community members, and state and federal protections. Increasing numbers of honu in Hawaiʻi mean there is more opportunity for observing them on beaches and in nearshore waters, and where their behavior can be predictable, honu have become a sought-after tourist attraction.

The convergence between turtles, tourists, and traffic can create challenges in areas where the infrastructure may not be sufficient to support large numbers of wildlife viewers. For instance, residents of the North Shore of Oʻahu have expressed concerns about traffic congestion near the popular turtle viewing beach of Laniākea. This situation is not unique to Oʻahu. Communities throughout the Hawaiian Islands are experiencing similar issues that require collaborative solutions.

As the Hawai‘i Department of Transportation works to address traffic and pedestrian safety issues at Laniākea, we at NOAA Fisheries continue to study the basking honu population and work collaboratively on the management and conservation of honu at this and other locations throughout the state.

Read the full release here

Habitats for endangered green sea turtles will be federally protected in Florida

August 25, 2020 — Endangered green sea turtles will have some of their nesting beaches in Florida protected by federal agencies under a new legal agreement with conservation groups.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service must designate protected critical habitats for green sea turtles by June 30, 2023, the Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement this week.

The agencies will likely consider proposing protections for beaches where green turtles nest in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, as well as offshore oceanic habitat in the Southeast and on the West Coast, according to the agreement. These critical habitats designations don’t prohibit development, but they require that any project that’s permitted by a federal agency must minimize harm to these special areas.

“We’re thrilled that these imperiled creatures will finally get the habitat protections required by the Endangered Species Act,” said Jaclyn Lopez, Florida director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Green sea turtle recovery has come a long way, but the fight’s not over yet.”

Read the full story at PHYS.org

Habitats for endangered green sea turtles will be federally protected in Florida

August 21, 2020 — Endangered green sea turtles will have some of their nesting beaches in Florida protected by federal agencies under a new legal agreement with conservation groups.

Read the full story at the Miami Herald

Trump administration sued over endangered Florida sea turtle protection from climate change

January 9, 2020 — Several environmental groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday claiming agencies in the Trump administration have failed to protect green sea turtle habitat as required by the Endangered Species Act.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, says the turtles’ nesting beaches in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, as well as their ocean habitat, face threats from sea level rise brought on by climate change and plastic pollution, according to a news release from the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the plaintiffs.

Other plaintiffs are the Sea Turtle Oversight Protection and the Turtle Island Restoration Network.

Read the full story at the Treasure Coast Newspaper

World’s Most Ambitious Satellite Telemetry Study of Foraging Green and Hawksbill Sea Turtles

September 25, 2019 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

NOAA Fisheries is pioneering what has become the most rigorous satellite tagging study of foraging green sea turtles and hawksbill sea turtles in the world. NOAA researchers Drs. Alexander Gaos, Summer Martin, and Camryn Allen recently returned from their latest expedition to Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). When they see a turtle, they free dive and attempt to hand-capture it. Local resident and freediving expert Jessy Hapdei leads the hand-capture effort. He has been involved in the project since its inception.

The most recent survey trip took place in early September 2019. The research team planned the mission to coincide with good weather dates. The eastern and northern coasts of the islands of Guam and Saipan have been impossible to access in the past, because challenging weather conditions persist during much of the year. These areas are important to the regional study of sea turtle movement ecology. The team’s planning efforts were rewarded with six outstanding field days—they captured, measured, and tagged 19 green turtles and two hawksbill turtles. They used flipper tags as well as satellite tags. Satellite tags give information on the fine-scale movements of turtles for several months. Flipper tags can last years or even decades and allow scientists to identify turtles long after the satellite tag has fallen off.

Since 2011, the research team has observed more than 600 turtles. They have hand-captured more than 200 and equipped 125 with satellite tags. Of the turtles equipped with satellite tags, 111 have been green turtles and 14 have been hawksbill turtles.

Read the full release here

Environmental groups say they’ll sue over green sea turtle habitat

August 15, 2019 — The United States should designate more critical habitat for the endangered green sea turtle, according to three environmental groups that say they will sue the government to force it to declare additional protected areas.

The groups filed a formal notice of intent Tuesday to sue the Fish and Wildlife Service and Acting Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt. The plaintiffs are the Center for Biological Diversity, Sea Turtle Oversight Protection and Turtle Island Restoration Network.

The lawsuit notification comes as the Trump administration announced major changes to the enforcement and rule-making surrounding the Endangered Species Act. The new rules are to take effect 30 days after the administration publishes them in the Federal Register, but they only will impact new decisions.

Read the full story at UPI