The ESA, passed in 1973, enshrined protections that are paying dividends now because sea turtle hatchlings take years to decades to reach reproductive age. The loss of those safeguards, from Trump\u2019s\u00a0\u201cdeath sentence\u201d repeal\u00a0last month of sections of the law to favor oil drilling, mining, logging and development interests, has some experts fearful that the recovery might have reached the high-water mark.<\/p>\n
An alliance of environmental and wildlife groups is\u00a0suing the Trump administration\u00a0in part over a rule giving outsized deference to \u201ceconomic considerations\u201d when determining protections for endangered species and critical habitat.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing is the result of several decades of sustained protection of these species under the ESA and various other measures to protect their habitat in different ways,\u201d said David Godfrey, executive director of the Sea Turtle Conservancy, an advocacy group that is not a plaintiff in the lawsuit, but is supportive of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes just about any species of sea turtle 20, 30 years to reach maturity, to come back and nest, to return to beaches where they were first protected as eggs or as hatchlings and afforded the opportunity to live without ending up in a fisherman\u2019s net and on a table in a nice restaurant.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the recovery\u2019s going on largely due to the ESA, which is one of the reasons why we\u2019re all very concerned about the setbacks to the legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ESA is credited with safeguarding more than 1,700 species and their habitats,\u00a0preventing 99%\u00a0of those listed from going extinct.<\/p>\n
Godfrey said: \u201cThe detractors of the ESA sometimes say, \u2018Oh, this thing is a failure. Look at all these animals that are still on the list. We haven\u2019t removed a lot from the list.\u2019 And I come right back and say, yeah, but look at all these animals that are on the list that we haven\u2019t lost.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were put on the list because they were creeping toward extinction, and sea turtles certainly are still here because of the act and they are growing in numbers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe levels of nesting numbers of turtles aren\u2019t quite where we would want them to be to completely take them off the list, but they\u2019re going in that direction unless we reverse things.\u201d<\/p>\n Justin Perrault, vice-president of research at Loggerhead Marinelife Center, said this year\u2019s elevated nesting figures were the result of the years of those protections, as well as favorable environmental conditions, reduced pollution and education around marine conservation.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s incredibly exciting and encouraging because the world needs some good nature stories, and it\u2019s important to celebrate that we are doing some things well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing a mother sea turtle is very difficult, they do all the work, they don\u2019t lay just one nest every season, they lay multiple nests, and that is very energetically costly and they usually take about two, three or four years off in between each time they come back to nest.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd we are seeing increases across the years right now. We\u2019re still cautiously optimistic about saying that they\u2019ve recovered, but we can say stability.\u201d<\/p>\n His center, a marine life hospital that treats and rehabilitates sick and injured turtles, has partnered with numerous groups and organizations around the country to share research data and collaborate on education efforts.<\/p>\n One of its most successful projects has been the\u00a0Responsible Pier Initiative, in which anglers in particular are equipped with knowledge and tools to rescue stranded or injured turtles, or those entangled in fishing lines.<\/p>\n To date, 79 piers around the country, including in Virginia, Texas, North Carolina and Puerto Rico, have signed up, and more than 1,200 turtles have been rescued.<\/p>\n Valerie Tovar, the center\u2019s conservation manager, said the program had saved the lives of multiple species of sea turtle.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve seen loggerheads, green turtles, olive ridleys, hawksbills,\u201d she said. \u201cWe had two reports of hooking a leatherback sea turtle, and obviously that line broke very quickly, they\u2019re massive animals.\u201d<\/p>\n As well as the pier initiative and establishing protection zones, Tovar said other conservation projects under way, or planned, can help further fuel the sea turtles\u2019 recovery.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve expanded our horizons. We\u2019re getting into the world of water quality, habitat restoration, and outreach and advocacy, to really find the connections between water quality, human health and sea turtle health,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Perrault said that, as a conservation organization, Marinelife does not comment on politics or policies. But he said: \u201cWe support the Endangered Species Act here, and we believe in the Endangered Species Act.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery single animal we take into this facility is on the endangered species list so obviously we believe that the animals should be protected and continue to be protected in the ways that they have been since the ESA was enacted.\u201d<\/p>\n He also pointed to\u00a0Florida\u00a0state regulations still in place that he said were \u201cbeneficial\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re starting to see record years more often, and that\u2019s incredibly encouraging,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n