The Caribbean sea turtle is the most threatened species due to excessive fishing and tourism development. These activities destroy its natural habitat, according a British study.
The decrease in the population of these animals in some of the world’s most beautiful islands is so dramatic that in the Bermudas many have stopped breeding.
On the Cayman Islands, an idyllic archipelago where millions of turtles lived only a few years ago, it is feared that some species such as the ‘hawkbill sea turtle’ are practically extinct.
Alarm
The study was carried out by biologists from the University of Exeter (UK) and the Society for Marine Conservation and has alarmed wildlife conservation groups around the world.
The sea turtles were the primary source of food and income for many years in much of the Caribbean and are an important part of the local culturese.
Man colonized the Cayman Islands essentially because of the huge abundance of sea turtles.
Today, in the majority of UK territory islands that were studied a total of 50 females wree found nesting.
The only exception are the Turcos and Caicos islands said the scientists.
The majority of turtles do not breed until they are 20 or 30 years old and lay eggs once every 3 years.
Only one in one thousand eggs survives and develops into an adult capable of breeding.
Worsening things is the fact that sea turtles are basically endogamic – they choose mates from the same island and will not breed with turtles from other islands
Costarican Info - Sea Turtle Extinction Alert