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Article: Dear EarthTalk: what is the status of Sea Turtle protection efforts? Don't many of them die in fishnets and, as a result, are threatened with extinction?
- Article from:
- EarthTalk: Questions & Answers About Our Environment. A Weekly Column
- Article date:
- July 1, 2007
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Dear EarthTalk: What is the status of Sea Turtle protection efforts? Don't many of them die in fishnets and, as a result, are threatened with extinction?--Matthew Lieberman, Wellesley, MA
Given their tenuous existence, sea turtles are considered by many environmentalists as ambassadors for the world's troubled oceans. They have graced the seas for more than 200 million years and survived whatever catastrophe befell the dinosaurs. But they are now facing a sharp decline in numbers around the world due mainly to human threats such as the alteration of beach nesting habitat, the harvesting of eggs for food, entanglement in fishing nets and pollution of ocean waters.