Salam PERMIAS, "Ibu jahanam!", sahut seorang ibu bule di tepi pantai Fort Lauderdale, "Venice of America", ketika ia mengetahui bahwa penyu laut betina naik ke darat 'hanya' untuk bertelur tanpa pernah kembali lagi untuk menyaksikan kelahiran 'putra-putri' nya di muka bumi ini. Kalau memang benar setiap penyu laut betina yang naik ke darat adalah ibu yang jahanam, sebutan apa yang paling pantas kita berikan kepada manusia -Homo sapiens- yang tega mengambil telur penyu laut, menangkap penyu laut, dan bahkan, memperdagangkan daging, telur, kulit dan cangkangnya?" Penggalan tulisan diatas saya ambil dari "Catatan dari Pantai Selatan Florida, AS" -tulisan ringan yang sedang saya kerjakan dari pengalaman saya selama bekerja di sepanjang pesisir pantai selatan florida ini- sekedar sebagai pembuka atas berita2 yang muncul hari ini mengenai penyu laut yang semakin terancam punah. Selamat membaca -kalau memang ada yang tertarik dengan penyu laut- dan jangan lupa, susuri pantai selatan florida di malam hari setiap musim panas (kalau ada waktu lho) dan saksikan bagaimana perjuangan 'seorang ibu' melahirkan 'anak2nya'. Haruskah mereka punah di tangan manusia yang bangga dengan sebutan "makhluk ciptaan Tuhan yang paling berakhlak"? SAVE SEA TURTLE!! Salam Prihatin dari Pantai Selatan Florida, M. Dharma Datubara North Miami Beach, FL ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 17:13:12 -0400 From: Ursula Keuper-Bennett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: King Leatherback in the News From New York Times: "June 1, 2000 Sea Turtles Nearing Extinction in Pacific, Study Says By HENRY FOUNTAIN Leatherback turtles, whose numbers in the Pacific have plunged in recent years, will all but disappear within a decade unless commercial fishing practices are changed, according to a new analysis of the giant animals' nesting activity. The turtles, which nest on ocean beaches and then spend almost all of their lives in the open sea, have been dying in large numbers -- at least 1,500 females every year, by some estimates -- caught in the long lines and nets used by commercial fishermen. This level of mortality, combined with the natural high mortality of turtle hatchlings, means the population is unsustainable, according to the analysis, a computer model devised by scientists at Drexel University in Philadelphia who have studied the turtles' nesting activity at a major site in Costa Rica since 1988. "The rate of adult mortality is too high," said Richard D. Reina, a marine biologist at Drexel and a co-author of the study, which is being reported today in the journal Nature. 'They just can't recover.' " The rest (along with a must-see graph) at: <http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/060100sci-animal-turtle.htm l> * * * Next: USA TODAY "Page 4A A perilous dive for turtle By Traci Watson USA TODAY The population of leatherback turtles in the Pacific Ocean is in a decline so serious that the turtles soon might disappear, scientists say in today's issue of Nature. The population in the Atlantic Ocean is stable, researchers agree. But they calculate that by 2010, fewer than 50 female turtles will return to nest at Playa Grande in Costa Rica, once one of the most popular nesting sites in the Pacific. A 50-turtle population cannot sustain itself, researchers say. ''Unless things change, (extinction) will happen, whether it's five years or 10 years,'' says Drexel University marine biologist Richard Reina, an author of the paper. ''There's no sign that the trend will reverse.'' The rest is at: <http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000601/2318545s.htm> * * * Last: "THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 2000 Headlines USA To help endangered turtles, scientists try satellite tracking Turtles' numbers drop in the Pacific, but more are showing up in the Atlantic. Scientists hope to learn why. Warren Richey ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor MIAMI Leatherback sea turtles have survived since a time when dinosaurs roamed the earth. But if current trends in the Pacific spread around the globe, the mild-mannered, ocean-going reptiles may soon follow the triceratops and T-rex into biological oblivion. Now, researchers are using satellite tracking to find out more about the turtles' habits. Call it GPS for reptiles. And it just might provide the clue that could save the giant turtles from extinction. The experiment was prompted by a surprising discovery on beaches along Florida's eastern shoreline. Unlike in the Pacific Ocean, where leatherback turtle populations are in a dangerous nosedive, nesting females are showing up in increasing numbers on Florida beaches. Sea turtle experts Scott Eckert and Llew Ehrhart want to find out why, and they are hoping the answer may help spark a recovery of leatherback populations worldwide. "The leatherback is the most endangered of the marine turtles," says Mr. Eckert of the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute in San Diego. "The global population has been dropping faster than we have ever seen for any of the sea turtles. It has been quite extreme." The rest is at: <http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/06/01/fp2s2-csm.shtml> Best regards, Ursula ------------------------------------------------------- ^ Ursula Keuper-Bennett 0 0 mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] /V^\ /^V\ /V Turtle Trax V\ http://www.turtles.org / \ "When you study members of another species, when you habituate them in the wild, when you begin to understand the intimate details of their private lives, and then you learn that the population or whole group is sliding towards extinction, what do you do? In good conscience, you must defend them, but the effort may be all consuming." \ / / \ / \ --- Birute M.F. Galdikas /__| V |__\ malama na honu
