Twenty years ago I started my scientific career as a college freshman in Cuba, collecting data to support sea turtle conservation. I was full of optimism. I was just learning about the threats that thousands of marine species and their habitat were facing due to human actions, and I still had hope that conservation measures laid out in my textbooks would help them.
On remote, protected beaches on the southeast coast of this Caribbean island, we camped for weeks during the summers, fighting voracious mosquitos and waiting for the arrival of nesting sea turtles. In just one nesting season we counted and measured hundreds of green and loggerhead sea turtles and recorded thousands of eggs and hatchlings. These sea turtle populations were nesting in one of the most pristine coastal ecosystems of the island, and they were thriving.
Reef fish, sharks and corals of the adjacent fringing coral reefs were also doing spectacularly — a dreamy seascape free from human impacts, further protected by national park status. Conservation was working. Nowadays good news in marine conservation is rare or underreported.
That’s why […]
Full article: Reason for Ocean Optimism
More about sea turtles:
Sighting and Observing Marine Wildlife
Lawsuit against US EPA over fracking waste in Gulf of Mexico
Map of New York seascape – a wildlife treasure trove
Watersheds on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard will be among the areas most affected by underground…
An invasive algae has wrecked huge sections of reef in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Scientists…
Sardine Meadow is a key link in conservation efforts for the Sierra Nevada, north of…
UC Davis researchers insert a device that continuously collects water samples underground, providing real-time data…
Irrigated farmland in the desert of the Imperial Valley. (Photo credit: Steve Proehl, Getty Images)…
The Inspector General of the Department of Defense released some scathing reports Thursday over the…