Turtles of Aotearoa 7 species of sea turtle in the world 5 recorded in New Zealand 2 more frequently seen here Nearest nest sites in Australia and New Caledonia Navigate using earths magnetic field Forage near the coast eating algae and sea slugs Threatened with extinction, dying here from marine plastic boat strike and fishing The regional subpopulation is expected to go extinct in 40-80 years Nest in Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands Forage offshore on jellies in the water Frequently caught by tuna fishers, with no efforts to reduce bycatch in leatherback hotspots Up to 1.5 m long Up to 2.7 m long Green sea turtles Leatherback sea turtles Loggerhead Green Leatherback Olive Ridley Hawksbill
Posted on by Shaun

Turtles of Aotearoa

After finding a green sea turtle in Devonport and reading about leatherback sea turtle bycatch I decided to do some research on what was going on with turtles in New Zealand. I made a graphic summary.

Turtles of Aotearoa 7 species of sea turtle in the world 5 recorded in New Zealand 2 more frequently seen here Nearest nest sites in Australia and New Caledonia Navigate using earths magnetic field Forage near the coast eating algae and sea slugs Threatened with extinction, dying here from marine plastic boat strike and fishing The regional subpopulation is expected to go extinct in 40-80 years Nest in Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands Forage offshore on jellies in the water Frequently caught by tuna fishers, with no efforts to reduce bycatch in leatherback hotspots Up to 1.5 m long Up to 2.7 m long Green sea turtles Leatherback sea turtles Loggerhead Green Leatherback Olive Ridley Hawksbill
Turtles of Aotearoa

Big thanks to Clinton Duffy for the review.