06/18/2025
BREAKING NEWS: State of the World's Sea Turtles just released!
Sea turtle populations across the East and Central Pacific Ocean are showing some incredible recoveries and some alarming declines. Here’s the breakdown by species:
🔹 East Pacific Green Turtles (SoCal nearshore natives)
✅ Status: Low Risk / Low Threat
📈 Populations near full recovery thanks to 1990s protections in Mexico & strong efforts in the Galápagos.
🔹 East Pacific Olive Ridleys (Mexico's most common sea turtle)
✅ Status: Low Risk / Low Threat
💪 Famous for their mass nesting events (“arribadas”), these turtles have rebounded dramatically in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua.
🔹 East Pacific Leatherbacks (San Francisco & Monterey Bay's Summer-Fall Visitors)
🚨 Status: High Risk / High Threat
📉 Critically endangered despite decades of conservation. Still declining, but signs of stabilization since 2010 offer a sliver of hope. Major threat: bycatch in coastal fisheries.
🔹 South Central Pacific Green Turtles
🚨 Status: High Risk / High Threat
⚠️ World’s most threatened green turtle population. Remote rookeries + bycatch + climate change = real danger.
🔹 East Pacific Hawksbills (The turtles that get killed for their beautiful shells, and that protect corals!)
⚠️ Status: High Threat
🧭 Rediscovered in 2008, they rely on mangrove estuaries and remain vulnerable but are rebounding in El Salvador, Nicaragua & Panama.
🔹 North Central Pacific (Hawaiian) Greens & Hawksbills
📉 Status: High Risk, Low Threat
🏝️ Hawaiian turtles have rebounded since the 1970s, but limited nesting sites and climate risks keep them vulnerable.
🛠️ What’s working?
Long-term community conservation—from Baja to Hawaii—and international cooperative groups like Laúd OPO and ICAPO are making a difference. SoCal Sea Turtles is proud to be one small organization working to protect and promote awareness of the turtles in our local waters!
📣 Boaters, anglers, and ocean lovers: want to know all the details? Here's the link to the full report: https://www.seaturtlestatus.org/articles/the-state-of-sea-turtles-in-the-east-and-central-pacific-ocean
Oceanic Society International Sea Turtle Society
