Thousands of Turtle Eggs Confiscated in East Borneo

Read more in a recent article of ProFauna, one of the largest Indonesian nature conservation organisations:

Article of ProFauna

Turtle eggs are sold at high prizes in Samarinda, the provincial capital of East Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia. As indicated in the article and known to us from other sources, these eggs at least partly come from the Berau district in East Borneo, where the local government ceased our successful turtle protection programme on the Island of Sangalaki.

Confiscation of smuggled turtle eggs and prosecution of the perpetrators are important steps to demonstrate that turtle egg trading is illegal and most detrimental for the survival of the sea turtles. However, it is of paramount importance to stop turtle egg trade already where it begins, and this is egg poaching on the nesting beaches!

Please help us to convince the Indonesian government and nature agencies to reinstate effective protection of the sea turtles and their nests on the Island of Sangalaki. We just reached 500 signatures for our petition. Let's reach 10.000!

Please sign our petition, spread the word, tell your friends, post our petition in Facebook, Twitter etc.!

Petition Save the Sea Turtles of Sangalaki

Thank you very much for participating!

Please take a moment to sign these petitions - it does make a difference!!!

It only takes a moment, and it REALLY DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE when a government agency or official is inundated with emails from petitions that have been signed.  It tells them that people care, that they are willing to make an effort to make their views known to the officials in charge. 

So PLEASE, take a moment to sign these two petitions.

This one is to urge the local government to let us continue our turtle nest protection and data collection program on Sangalaki Island, which was recently terminated with no reason given after 12 years, resulting in the eggs being dug up and sold again. 
Petition to save the sea turtles of Sangalaki

This one is to demand protection for the sea turtle conservation rangers in Costa Rica, after the brutal murder of 26-year old Jairo Moro Sandoval, who was killed while patrolling the beaches to protect the sea turtles.
Petition to protect sea turtle conservation rangers

Thank you so much!

Please help stop the slaughter of turtles in Bali

Please help stop the slaughter of turtles in Bali by signing these two petitions on Change.Org.

Each signature will be sent to the Governor of Bali and the Bali Tourist Board directly.

The slaughter is illegal under Government  Act No 7/1999, which prohibits the killing and trading  Sea Turtles !!

Sadly, the issue is now rising its ugly head again. In January 2013, local newspapers reported that the illegal turtle trade has returned, which has also been confirmed by local animal and environment protection organisations. These proves that the protection offered in Bali is totally insufficient and that the police are not pursuing violations against Act No 7/1999, which prohibits the killing of and dealing with sea turtles, and against the CITES regulations that prohibits the trade of turtle products.
The killing of these magnificent creatures is a GRUESOME, BARBARIC process!
The turtle's plastron is sliced and ripped open, the internal organs are being removed, blood is scooped out, and the head cut off. During this entire massacre, the poor turtle is alive and struggling in pain!
See video (Warning: VERY GRAPHIC): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUC5vTQp-nM&feature=player_embedded
Please speak up for Sea Turtles and sign our petition. By signing this petition, the message that you can read below will be sent instantly to the Government's Office in Bali as well as the Tourim Board of Bali.

 There are two petitions, one organized by PRO-FAUNA Indonesia and SOS-SEATURTLES, and the other by Occupy for Animals.  Please sign both and support the end of the turtle trade.  Thank you!

Links to the two Petitions:

SOS Seaturtles, Bali campaign

Occupy for Animals, Bali campaign

Thank you!

New law to protect Puerto Rico leatherback turtles

Puerto Rico has introduced a new law protecting a swathe of the island's coast that has become a major nesting site for the world's largest turtle, the leatherback.

The Northeast Ecological Corridor comprises 14 sq km (5.4 sq miles) of the island's coast.
The law ends a 15-year battle which pitted developers against green activists and several celebrities.
Leatherback turtles are a highly endangered species.
"Today this important, highly ecologically valuable resource is being protected forever... History is being made," said Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla, according to the island's Vocero news site.
Developers had been looking to build hotels, golf courses and luxury homes in the area, arguing that this would boost the local economy and create jobs.
But the area - boasting lush vegetation and pristine beaches - is now likely to become a centre for eco-tourism.
As well as being a nesting site for the leatherback turtle, the area is home to more than 860 different types of flora and fauna.
It also contains a bioluminescent bay, featuring micro-organisms which glow in the dark.
Leatherback turtles weigh around 600kg (95st) and their shells can be up to two metres (6ft 7in) long.
The shell is flexible and covered in a black leathery skin - hence the name leatherback.
Last August thousands of leatherback eggs and hatchlings were crushed by bulldozers moving waterlogged sand from key nesting areas.

original article:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22140670

World's largest turtle could be extinct in 20 years, scientists say



Leatherback sea turtle nesting. / Owen Humphreys/PA Wire via AP Images



The world's largest turtle, the Pacific leatherback sea turtle, faces extinction over the next 20 years.

A team of scientist has documented a 78 percent decline in the number of nests of the leatherback sea turtle in the Pacific Ocean.

The study looked at leatherback sea turtle nests in a region that accounts for 75 percent of the total nesting in the western Pacific.

The results were startling and worrying for the animal named California's official marine reptile.

The number of animals nesting in the region had fallen from a peak of 14,455 in 1984, to 1,532 in 2011. Fewer than 500 nest at this site annually now.

The study was published online in the Ecological Society of America's journal Ecosphere.

The species has been considered endangered since 1970.

Catherine Kilduff of the Centre for Biological Diversity said the study was ''a grim warning''.



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Species closest to extinction

''We're not doing enough to save leatherback sea turtles or their ocean home. The problems they face -- climate change, plastic pollution, fisheries that catch far more than fish -- are problems that threaten us, too," said Kilduff

Thane Wibbels, Ph.D., a professor of reproductive biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and member of a research team said the largest marine turtle in the world could soon vanish.

''If the decline continues, within 20 years it will be difficult if not impossible for the leatherback to avoid extinction," said Wibbels, who has studied marine turtles since 1980. "That means the number of turtles would be so low that the species could not make a comeback.

''The leatherback is one of the most intriguing animals in nature, and we are watching it head towards extinction in front of our eyes," added Wibbels.

Leatherback turtles can grow to six feet long and weigh as much as 2,000 pounds. They are able to dive to depths of nearly 4,000 feet and can make trans-Pacific migrations from Indonesia to the U.S. Pacific coast and back again.

The study identified four major problems facing leatherback turtles, nesting beach predators, such as pigs and dogs that eat the turtle eggs; rising sand temperatures that can kill the eggs or prevent the production of male hatchlings; the danger of being caught by fisheries during migrations; and the harvesting of adults and eggs for food by islanders.

See original article at: cbs news article leatherback turtles

For more information, see University of Alabama research on leatherbacks