Watch a clip from the documentary "Last Journey for the Leatherback?"- click on the play button to start.

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Sea turtles are ancient ocean dwellers that have lived on the Earth for 150 million years, since before the time of the dinosaurs. There are seven species of sea turtles: Green, Kemp's ridley, Olive ridley, Hawksbill, Leatherback, Flatback and Loggerhead.

Now, all seven species of sea turtles are either critically endangered or threatened. Astonishingly, the population of leatherbacks has declined by 95% over just the past 25 years.

Click here to download a fact sheet about all seven species of sea turtles.

photo (c) Doug Perrine/Seapics

Major threats to the survival of sea turtles are:

• Large-scale poaching of adult turtles and turtle eggs
• Drowning in shrimp nets and by being dragged by longline hooks set by tuna and swordfish fishers
• Development and destruction of nesting beaches
• Pollution and plastic debris in the ocean
• Climate change causing rising sea levels that impact nesting beaches. Warming ocean temperatures are also likely to negatively impact the food resources for sea turtles and virtually all marine species.

Scientists predict that the giant Pacific leatherback sea turtle, which has survived unchanged for over 100 million years, could vanish in the next 5 to 30 years if current threats from wasteful industrial fishing are not curtailed. 

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