A federal report shows that loggerhead sea turtle populations, listed as 'threatened' under the Endangered Species Act, are decreasing. The news is particularly disappointing because the last report showed that from 1989-1998, the number of nesting sites had increased about 4% each year. According to The New York Times,..."the report showed nestings in the United States dropping about 7 percent a year on the Gulf of Mexico. In southern Florida, nestings were down about 4 percent a year, and populations in the Carolinas and Georgia have dropped about 2 percent a year." The Times speculates that commercial fishing is the reason for the decline but divulges no further details.
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According to the New York Times, loggerhead nestings have recently dropped almost 7 percent in the Gulf of Mexico. With a myriad of threats from stormy oceans and climate change to land development and light pollution, these spectacular animals are in real trouble.
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tags: The State of the Birds 2009, ornithology, birds, endangered species, conservation, global warming, climate change, environment, invasive species, habitat loss
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