Marine Turtles

Green sea turtle - Mafia Island, Tanzania
photo: WWF-Canon / Peter DENTON

Having traveled the seas for over 100 million years, marine turtles have outlived almost all of the prehistoric animals with which they once shared the planet. Marine turtles survived the extinction of the dinosaurs and are still present in the world's oceans today.

Until recently, their success was apparent, as marine turtles crawled ashore to nest in abundance on tropical and subtropical beaches around the globe. Unfortunately threats like hunting for meat, shell and eggs; habitat destruction; fisheries bycatch; pollution; boat strikes; and introduced predators have wiped out entire turtle populations, or reduced them to mere shadows of their former glory. Today three of the seven existing species are critically endangered with extinction, three are endangered and the status of the seventh species remains unknown.

WWF is working across the globe to help protect these remarkable creatures and the habitats that they need to survive.