Threats to Sea Turtles
Sea turtles are built to last. Equipped with unique body armor to protect them from their natural predetators, they have swum the seas since dinosaurs roamed the land. However, in recent history, rapidly increasing human populations have resulted in new and acute pressures, making sea turtle survival ever more difficult. Expert members of the IUCN-SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group have identified five major threats to sea turtles worldwide: fisheries bycatch, coastal development, pollution and pathogens, direct take, and climate change. Learn more about these threats and find out how you can help.
Why Are Sea Turtles Endangered? 5 Major Threats
A leatherback entangled in fishing gear in Grenada. © Kate Charles
Fisheries Bycatch
It’s estimated that the fishing industry contributes to the death of thousands to tens of thousands of sea turtles each year. Turtles that become accidentally trapped in longlines, gill nets, and trawls often drown and are thrown away as bycatch. Sometimes fishing nets and lines that break or cast off as trash continue to entangle sea turtles and other marine animals as they float freely in the ocean. Often, animals entangled in cast-off fishing gear, a.k.a. “ghost gear”, are unable to swim or feed effectively and don’t survive. And the sea turtles that manage to avoid fishing nets are impacted by the disruption to their food supply and habitat.
The threat that fisheries pose to sea turtles is considered the most impactful and primary cause of many declining populations.
A crowd watches a leatherback turtle nest in Florida. © Ted Swoboda
Coastal Development
Every year, sea turtle habitats are destroyed because of shrinking coastlines. Wherever there is boat vessel traffic, whenever a new hotel or high-rise is built up along the shore, and wherever there is sea floor dredging and beach erosion sea turtle food supplies and nesting areas take a major hit.
A juvenile sea turtle covered in oil. © Carolyn Cole
Pollution And Pathogens
Marine pollution can harm sea turtles in many ways. Plastic pollution, discarded fishing gear, petroleum by-products, and other debris injure sea turtles through ingestion and entanglement. Ocean pollution can also weaken the turtles’ immune systems, and disrupt nesting behavior and hatchling orientation. Learn more about plastic pollution and sea turtles.
A butchered green turtle for sale in Grenada. © Brian J. Hutchinson
Direct take
Throughout the world, turtles are killed and traded on the global market as exotic food, oil, leather, and jewelry. Over the past 100 years, millions of hawkbill turtles alone have been killed just for the price of their shells. And even though today the global trade of luxury and craft items has reduced thanks to conservation efforts, it still remains an ongoing threat to turtles in parts of Africa, Asia and the Americas.
A bleached coral reef. © The Ocean Agency
Climate change
We are continually learning the extent to which climate change affects sea turtles. Climate change can impact the natural sex ratios of hatchlings, increase the likelihood of disease outbreaks, and can escalate the frequency of extreme weather events, which destroy nesting beaches and coral reefs.