Endangered Sea Turtles

Seven different sea turtles, or marine turtles live and breed in tropical and subtropical regions around the world.

Sea Turtle Resources Flatback Green Sea Turtle Hawksbill Kemp's Ridley Leatherback Loggehead Sea Turtle Olive Ridley Turtle Pictures

All species have experienced significant population declines over the last couple of decades, and all are considered either vulnerable or endangered.

Sea turtles can be compared using a variety of identifying characteristics. For example, all species, with the exception of the Leatherback, are hard shelled turtles. All species except the Flatback and Kemp's Ridley turtles have a world-wide range.

Sea turtle research, including the production of reliable population statistics, continues to improve. The implementation of a standard counting procedure across regions and species will help resolve most of the problems associated with current population estimates.

The links in the box point to articles that review the most recent population estimates for each sea turtle species.

© 2007. Patricia A. Michaels