Sea Turtle Water Pollution Essay

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

Turtles are one of the oldest reptile groups. They are classified as amniotes. They have existed a long time ago, which means they have seen the rise and fall of the dinosaurs and the rise of humanity. Scientists think that turtles have existed for around 157 million years (mosaic 29). Approximately, sea turtles were 65 million years ago (Dobbs 1). This family has survived the passage of time and is threatened by the contamination that humans have created in the ocean. The six sea turtles that occur on the coasts of America are in fact threatened. Sea turtles are very important for the ecosystem, but humans, directly and indirectly, endanger this family. If humans do not stop their destructive habits, we can lose the influence of sea turtles on seafarers. Sea turtles play an important role in the ecology of the ocean, and without turtles, we can see an ecological collapse in the oceans. Sea turtles are one of the few animals in the sea that eat sea grass (Godfrey). Sea turtles act as grazing animals that cut short grass and help maintain the health of the family of seaweed (Godfrey). In recent decades, there has been a decline in the sea grass family. This decrease may be related to the decrease in the number of sea turtles (Godfrey). Sea grass is important because it is a fertile ground for many species of fish, shellfish and crustaceans (Godfrey). The beaches and sand dunes are known for not having many nutrients. When the sea turtles reach

This litter that ends up in the ocean is consumed by many animals. There are about seven different kinds of sea turtles and the world wild life organization is working on conservation on five of them. What’s happening to all of these turtles? Due to debris in the ocean the turtle are getting tangled in the six ring bottle or can holders and getting them stuck around the middle so

Humans have heavily affected sea turtle mortality rates, but one may ask what the benefit of having a stable and healthy population of sea turtles is. Sea turtles hold many important roles in both terrestrial and marine ecosystems where they are found. Along coasts where sea turtles are found nesting, beaches have been seen to have an increase in organic matter, phosphorus, nitrogen, and lipids (Bouchard 2000). This matter left by the sea turtle is in the forms of unhatched eggs and eggshells, which are then brought into the food chain through decomposers, such as beetles, or sea turtle predators, such as crabs (Bouchard 2000).

Endangered Species Act and also appear on the list composed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Human Predation-Though most countries find harvesting sea turtles for food illegal however, these laws are not enforced. U.S. shrimpers are required to put Turtle Excluder Device on their trawl nets since in the past shrimping nets have killed fifty thousand turtles annually. Nothing endangers them the most then plastic bags or helium balloons floating in the water. Effects of consumption include interference in metabolism or gut function. Temperature, which may affect embryo development, in the last hundred years the temperature, has changed six degrees Celsius. The temperature causes the change in the distribution of species in the ocean due to the change in prey and food.

The threatened bog turtle is a very small turtle, averaging 3.1 to 4.5 inches in length (USFWS 2015z) and it is characterized by a light brown to ebony shell and bright yellow, orange, or red blotches on each side of the head (USFWS 2001). The FWS proposed a final rule in 1997 to list the northern population of the bog turtle as threatened and southern population as threatened due to similarity of appearance, under provisions of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (62 FR 59605 59623, November 4, 1997). Regionally the northern population of the bog turtle is known to occur in localized distributions from western Massachusetts and Connecticut southward to Maryland, and the southern population is known to occur from Virginia southward to Georgia (USFWS 2001). In New York it is known to occur in 15 counties in the southeastern region of the state or along the south coast of Lake Ontario (USFWS

Loggerhead turtles might be seeing their last day on earth. Humans are killing the loggerhead turtles each year by commercial fishing and trawls, marine debris, and Artificial lighting on the beaches. We should make a difference to these loggerhead turtles and help them survive and be close to living a full live. Humans should not be careless to the innocent creatures. We need to act now, loggerheads are dying of our cruel actions.

Unfortunately, the total population of the Cagle’s Map Turtle decreased by ⅔ since 1974 in 1997 and is only continuing to decrease due to major disturbances in habitat, including water diversions, degradation, and being subjected to living only along the Guadalupe River Basin(Ernst, C.H., et al., 1997). Since the Cagle’s Map Turtle only survive in freshwater environments, their population decreases in increased levels of salinity caused by the water

The lecture and the reading both discuss the decline of Sea Otters. While the reading states that the pollution is the

In Australia, loggerhead turtles nest on open sandy beaches (Environment, 2001). Therefore when hatchlings are born they need to make their way down to the ocean, this makes them vulnerable (Environment, 2001). Baby turtles and most vulnerable when they are scurrying, to the water because there are many obstacles along the way (Nobs, 2004). For example baby turtles mistake artificial lights for the sea and are then more likely to be killed by predators such as birds, raccoons, foxes and cats, which are just a few of the predators these vulnerable creatures face (Marine Bio, 2015). Around 10% of hatchlings from each batch are lost artificial lights each year. To decrease the amount of baby turtles killed we are going to fix how far the artificial lights are between each other. When breeding season takes place there needs to be a rule that four lights every kilometre need to be turned off. This will help by reducing the amount of hatchlings that take a wrong turn towards the light, and attract unwanted predators. This problem could most probably be bought with an organisation called ‘Sand Cloud’. When you purchase one of Sand Cloud’s products, you help to preserve and protect oceans, and Marine Life. 10% of their net profits are donated to saving marine life. In particular turtles. So if this problem was bought up with them they would probably take it up and solve

A group of researchers studied this at Rio de la Plata, a bay between Argentina and Uruguay. Using satellite telemetry from nine Chelonia mydas the researchers tagged and data on the concentration and distribution of marine waste (accounting only for plastics debris) they created a map displaying the overlapping areas of debris and Chelonia mydas foraging areas (González et al., 2014). The researchers report that the map depicts the average green turtle encountered 9 pieces of plastic every square kilometer of the overlapping areas of debris and foraging (González et al., 2014). Which led to Chelonia mydas accidentally ingesting copious amounts of debris, though death by consumption of plastic debris is rare, the ingestion of chemicals from plastic debris can hinder somatic growth and procreation turnout (González et al., 2014). To gain better understanding how much plastic debris was consumed due to their exposure, the research team examined 62 adolescent Chelonia mydas, 90 percent of the 62 turtles had eaten 13 pieces of plastic on average, 98 percent of it was found in the green turtle’s large intestines (González et al., 2014). While ingestion of plastic debris can have negative effects on the development and reproduction of Chelonia mydas, but two biggest

Over one hundred million years of existence, capable of traveling through the oceans of the world. One creature so magnificent that it is able to live up to 70 years old and weigh between 200 to 500 pounds. This creature is the majestic Hawaiian green sea turtle. Although they are found throughout the world, Hawaiian green sea turtles are distinctly different from other green sea turtles (NOAA Fisheries par. 4). They travel to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to nest and then travel to the main Hawaiian Islands to feed. Such a unique creature is very important to the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiian green sea turtles play an important role in the ecosystem, the economy, the culture, and the

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 the females emerge from the ocean, some will crawl out yet reasons such as naturally or caused by artificial lighting or the presence of people on the beach - decide not to nest, this is called a "false crawl" Females on the nesting beach after recent mating can be observed with scratched shells and sometimes bleeding from where the males were hooked to their shells. Sea turtles mating have been reported to be very aggressive during mating sometimes males wil compete for females and may even fight each other. Females may even mate with several males prior to nesting season and store the sperm for several months. When she lays her eggs, they will have been fertilized by a variety of males. This helps keep genetic diversity high in the