Sea turtles are in trouble, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reporting that there are likely only around 25,000 of them left in the wild. Now, conservationists in Thailand are trying to combat their dwindling numbers.
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:04 Leatherback sea turtles are in trouble,
00:06 with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
00:08 reporting that there are likely only around 25,000 of them
00:12 left in the wild.
00:13 Now conservationists in Thailand are trying to combat
00:16 their dwindling numbers.
00:17 Leatherback sea turtles are only recently
00:19 returning to southern Thailand for their annual egg laying.
00:22 Each season, they are expected to lay upwards of 25 eggs.
00:25 However, most don't survive to mate and lay eggs themselves.
00:29 With the senior fishery biologist
00:30 at Thailand's Department of Marine and Coastal Resources
00:33 saying about it, quote, "0.1% to 0.2%
00:36 is the survival rate of leatherback turtle hatchlings
00:39 making it to adulthood.
00:40 If 100 eggs hatch from a single nest,
00:43 we'd need 10 just for one or two turtles
00:45 to survive to adulthood."
00:46 That's why they're now releasing 11 baby leatherbacks
00:49 into the wild after they were rescued, each one tagged
00:52 with a satellite tracker, with the researchers hopeful
00:54 that they will survive and that scientists
00:56 can glean some data that will aid in conservation efforts.
00:59 Specifically, they are looking at leatherback sea turtle
01:01 travel routes, possibly eventually opening
01:04 protective corridors for the creatures.
01:06 Thailand is one of only five countries that
01:08 have been able to successfully nurse baby leatherback sea
01:11 turtles up to their first year.
01:14 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:17 (upbeat music)