Loggerhead Turtle Research Paper

Now, as most may know sea turtles are both marine and land animals depending on what stage of life they are in. Which means that they need to be able to go on land during certain stages of their lives. One of the main reasons why a sea turtle will go on to land is to lay their eggs. Within the last few years this has become harder and harder for the already endangered species. It

The Loggerhead is an endangered species. Between 1997 and 2007, around 70% of their east coast yearly nesting population was lost as a result of shrimp trawling and development in nesting areas. The Loggerhead Turtles habitat in Gnaraloo is vital for their survival. The female loggerhead usually digs her nest at night. She digs her nest with her back flippers, about 18 inches beneath the surface. When she lays her eggs they fall to the bottom of the nest and pack together after she lays the eggs she tops off the nest with sand. The hatchlings will incubate for 60- 80 days. Loggerheads nest on ocean beaches, they lay their eggs, immediately after hatchlings emerge from the nest, they begin a period of frenzied activity. Hatchlings are primarily

The Red-bellied Cooter is being threatened by both man-made and natural causes. Do to economic growth, areas that used to be a good habitat for these turtles are now being turned into new, buildings like apartments, houses, and stores. In areas where the turtles can live, they are threatened before they have even hatched from their eggs by other predators like raccoons, skunks, or even snapping turtles. Almost all of the eggs in a nest are harmed before they have a chance to hatch. So while humans taking up land takes the Red-bellied Cooters’ homes, their predators take their lives.

Commercial fishing is a reason so many turtles are dying each year and making them become endangered. Duke University found that shrimp trawls and commercial fishing nets have killed over 250,000 loggerheads in the human's lifetime. Lots of the turtles are dying to the actions we make. When you are fishing you

Sea turtles face a lot of life or death obstacles from the second they are born. Even

To warm up, they bask in the sun. In winter, all reptiles in our area must hibernate to survive the cold.” This explains the uncommon sighting of most turtles this time of the season. But as soon as the weather warms up, the turtles start to come out to bask for warmth. When we were on our class trip to Prospect Park in Brooklyn, we encountered a dead turtle. The lifeless shell was flipped over and cracked. It almost appeared as it was frozen. As discussed as a class, what we were observing was in fact a turtle trying to bask in the sun on a warm spring day and the weather turn for the worst the following day, leaving the turtle to suffer. Another example of a turtle encounter was last summer in central park. On a warm sunny day, I went on a boat ride in the central park pond. On the nearby rocks, there were numerous turtles basking in the sun and cooled off by diving into the water. With my fascination of turtles, I made the person rowing with me row closer to get an up close look. Some people may wonder how these turtles get here? Most of the time, they are brought into an area as pets and then released by owners. This causes stress on the animal and its

After approximately two months of a female mother green sea turtle giving birth, the eggs hatch and the hatchlings make their way to the water. The newly hatched green sea turtles are very susceptible to predators, exposure and losing their way. Birds, mammals and other predators love feasting on the young turtles. One of the greatest threats to hatchlings is light pollution near beach nesting sites. The light from buildings and homes confuses the young turtles so that they crawl towards the light and not the ocean.Threats to Green Sea Turtles: Direct and Indirect Overexploitation, Green sea turtles and their food are over hunted; Disease Fibropapilloma, Development; light pollution near beach nesting sites confuses hatchling sea turtles to travel to the light instead of the ocean, Habitat Loss, and Global Warming.” According to the article “Green Sea

Sea turtles live a life of conflict with humans and the biproducts of human development and practices. At every stage in the life cycle of a sea turtle, there is potential for fatal conflict with humans. Conflicts can be divided into those that are direct or intentional, and those that are indirect, non-intentional, or accidental. Indirect conflicts are widespread and highly varying, while direct conflicts fall into the categories of egg poaching and direct take. Humans cause increased mortality and population declines of sea turtles through direct and indirect conflicts; these conflicts can be reduced through various mitigation strategies.

For many beach lovers, the ocean provokes thoughts of family vacations, palm trees, and boating but what about the vast environments that lay beneath the waves? While mankind has only explored a mere five percent of the world’s oceans and countless numbers of aquatic creatures remain undiscovered, Loggerhead Sea Turtles stand out as being well-recognized. The turtle’s massive size and beautiful shell grab people’s attention, yet it is probably safe to say that many have no further knowledge about the existence of Loggerheads. From traveling the world to facing threats from human activity, Loggerhead Turtles experience long and fulfilling lives.

If only a few ships and fisherman here and there adopt turtle exclusion devices, their effect will not be seen. A measure that needs to be taken is one that will do a multitude of things. One, the conservation measure is one that all ships can adopt. This is the only way that exclusion devices can be effective. Two, there needs to be some sort of visible and/or tangible reward for compliance like a stipend or a subsidy. In addition, the final reason is to implement a conversation technique that will benefit both marine animals like the sea turtles and humans (Mullon). We live in a selfish world where people, before agreeing to something, want to see how it benefits them. Anglers are not going to adopt a new gear modification or exclusion device if it hurts their business. They will refuse implement them even if it is the

The simple act of directly taking sea turtle eggs from their nests and turtles themselves adds to the reasons for endangerment. These eggs and turtles are being over harvested for oil, food, leather, shell, medicine, and religious ceremonies (Why Endangered, ¶2) (Sea Turtles, ¶9). Smaller animals are known to eat the eggs and/or new hatchlings, but this has been proven not a reason for their endangerment because the numbers are so small and this is a natural thing to happen. However, many other animals, such as dogs and cats, are now predators of these vulnerable creatures because of the trash left behind by humans as a result of urbanization on the coast (Information About Threats , ¶2).

I wrote this article “Threats to Sea Turtle Populations in the Western Atlantic” because small scale fisheries and fisherman using gillnets are negatively effecting the lives of endangered sea turtles in the Western Atlantic. Even though there are laws protecting the sea turtles, poaching still occurs whether it is small scale fisheries or local fisherman. Some of the fisherman interviewed reported that they have eaten sea turtle meat previously and some admit to still doing so. Others say that they have previously poached the sea turtle eggs from their nets that are on tropical and subtropical beaches. Sea turtles need oxygen from the surface even though they can hold their breath for a long time, but sometimes they become trapped inside the

There are many species worldwide whose habitats are threatened daily by loss of habitat due to global warming, pollution, and the spread of human populations that may need to undergo experimental management in order to figure out a way to keep the species’ populations in a healthy status as well as protect fragile ecosystems. One such species, the Blanding’s turtle (Emydoidea blandingii), was placed on the threatened list in New York state due to the large loss of habitat and low population numbers especially in the female gender of the species. The article Experimental Management of Nesting Habitat for the Blanding’s Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) written by Zara Dowling, Tanessa Hartwig, Erik Kiviat and Felicia Keesing in 2010 in the Journal Ecological Restoration, discusses an experimental management plan for the Blanding’s turtle that has proven beneficial to that turtle population.

If the plan goes ahead loggerhead turtles may have to compete with tourists, businesses and coastal residents for use of sandy beaches. If the tourist node is built, Lights from the new development will discourage females from nesting. If a female fails to nest after multiple false crawls, she will resort to less-than-optimal nesting spots or deposit her eggs in the ocean. In either case, the survival outlook for hatchlings is slim. Lighting near the shore also can cause hatchlings to become disoriented and wander inland, where they often die of dehydration or predation. have an innate instinct that leads them in the brightest direction, which is normally moonlight reflecting off of the ocean. Excess lighting from the near shore buildings

Observing the decline in Blanding’s Turtle populations, researchers have tried to better understand the factors threatening the species, through investigating its reproductive ability and migration patterns. According to a recent study focused on sexual maturity of Blanding’s Turtle, low reproductive rate and delayed sexual maturity of the long-lived organism severely constraints its population to respond to chronic disturbances.