Sunday 19 January 2014

Identifying Danger Zones Could Help Prevent Sea-Turtle Deaths

By Wynne Parry, LiveScience Contributor | January 18, 2014 09:44am ET

When ocean-dwelling leatherback turtles encounter fishing lines or nets, the results can be deadly for the large marine animals. To help protect these turtles, researchers have identified "hotspots" where some of these deadly encounters are likely occur in the Pacific Ocean.

Leatherback turtles, which weigh up to 2,000 lbs. (900 kilograms), don't have a solid shell. Instead, their shell is made of bones connected by cartilage and covered by leathery skin (hence their name), said James R. Spotila, a study researcher and an ecologist at Drexel University in Philadelphia who studies these and other sea turtles.



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