How Sea Turtles Became Endangered

 Sea turtles are endangered for many reasons and almost all of these reasons are because of human activity. All of these reasons can be prevented but it will take a lot of time and effort to fix the population of the sea turtles. "Sea turtles are mainly endangered because the adults are taken for their meat, shells,to make jewelry and other products therefore decreasing the production of eggs and hatchlings." (Garner)This shows how sea turtles are endangered due to people finding it necessary to kill them for either food or unneeded items that could be retrieved elsewhere.

  

http://www.futuretimeline.net/21stcentury/images/leatherback-sea-turtle-population-graph.jpg

     In the chart above, that covers leatherback sea turtle nests from 1993 to 2011, their decline in nests is visible. The graph goes back and forth from increasing and decreasing, but for the last 7 years, their population has remained decreasing.

Garner later goes on to say, "They also were incidentally caught by fishermen by the thousands in Long-liners & shrimp trawlers. Also the turtles need celestial light and the buildings being built on the beach interfere with this lighting cycle, causing disorientation, leading to exhaustion and in some cases death for hatchlings and adult sea turtles." (Garner) This is also a human cause and since the buildings use artificial lighting, it confuses the sea turtles, causing them to not be allowed to experience their natural habitat in the ways necessary. Also, since they get caught in fishing nets, it causes them to drown and die because they cannot escape the nets.  

         Overall, sea turtles are endangered due to human activities. There are many organizations out there that are trying to save the sea turtles as well as many other endangered species. Some are lucky enough to be helped in a variety of ways but sadly the majority of these endangered species die off and are never seen again.