Free Seminar: New Leatherback Sea Turtle Critical Habitat

Description

Title: Leatherback Sea Turtle Critical Habitat: What does 16,910 sq miles of new federal protected ocean mean for Californians?

Who: All ages welcome to this free seminar! There is no admission fee, but donations are appreciated. Free refreshments will be served.

Why: The largest offshore protected area for sea turtles in the US has just been established, but what do these new federal rules mean for California's boaters, fishermen, and offshore industries? Dr. Chris Pincetich with the Sea Turtle Restoration Project (www.SeaTurtles.org) is presenting this free seminar to answer this question and more. Join a community discussion to review the process that created this historic conservation achievement, learn what the new federal sea turtle critical habitat laws mean to ocean users, and help us take the important next steps to build on this victory for California's leatherback sea turtles.

Every year, leatherback sea turtles migrate across the Pacific Ocean to feed on jellyfish in the waters along the west coast of the US. SeaTurtles.org was a key player in encouraging the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to declare these foraging grounds as federally protected critical habitat for endangered leatherbacks.

On February 25 the new federal critical habitat protections within 41,914 square miles of US Pacific waters, with 16,910 square miles of that protected area along California's coastline, take effect. Dr. Chris Pincetich will discuss the designation process, answer any questions people have about how the decision will affect them, and look ahead to actions that still need to take place in order to protect Pacific leatherback sea turtles from extinction.

Leatherbacks are the most ancient of sea turtle species that still swim the world's oceans. Their amazing adaptations allow migrations across entire ocean basins and the resiliency to persist through ice ages and the extinction of the dinosaurs. But human pressures over the last one hundred years have virtually exterminated Pacific leatherbacks. Their populations have been reduced 95% and they are critically endangered.

For more information on this event, contact [email protected]

More Info

Link

http://seaturtles.org/article.php?id=2218

Call

415.663.8590 ext. 102

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