Sea Turtle Sightings in Ireland & the UK Are Mysteriously Declining

According to researchers, the coasts of Ireland and the UK have recently experienced a declining number of sightings of sea turtles.

Comparing the records

Researchers from the University of Exeter looked at records as early as 1910 up to 2018. In these records, they found that nearly 2,000 sea turtles were sighted, captured, or stranded.

As the 1980s to the 1990s came, records of sightings dramatically increased, perhaps due to an increase in interest in conservation among the general public, as well as better means of reporting.

However, records decreased again since the year 2000 for reasons that are still unclear.

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Cause of varying numbers

According to Plymouth Marine Laboratory and University of Exeter's Zara Botterell, many factors may cause the varying numbers that have been reported. These include climate change, prey availability, and various disasters in the environment, like the spill from the explosion of the oil rig Deepwater Horizon in 2010. These events influence behavior and numbers of sea turtles.

She adds that the North Atlantic populations of sea turtles are generally stable; they are increasing. The decreasing observations could be due to fewer incidences of reporting instead of fewer turtles.

Another possible reason could be reducing fishing boats now at sea compared to the past because fishermen are the most likely to see these turtles and report them.

Sighting incidences per species

Leatherback turtles are the most commonly reported sightings in the waters of Ireland and the UK. Out of the total 1,997 sightings from 1910 onward, 1,683 were of leatherback turtles.

It is thought that this is the only turtle species that deliberately enter these waters. The adults arrive during summer as they pursue their prey of jellyfish.

For other species, particularly Kemp's Ridley and Loggerhead juveniles, they are thought to be carried by the currents, which get them stranded in the colder waters. Reported sightings of Kemp's Ridleys number 240 since the year 1910, while Loggerheads number 61 for the same period.

All over the world, seven sea turtles species exist, with the other species being rare in the waters of the UK & Ireland. From the years 1980 up to 2016, there were only 11 green turtles and only one each of hawksbill and Olive Ridley turtles. Meanwhile, the flatback has never been reported in this region.

Sighting areas

The majority of the turtle sightings were on the southern and western coasts. Out of all the 1,997 reports, 143 have been accidentally caught as bycatches in lines, ropes, and nets. Most of them were released back to the water.

The study

The researchers published their paper in the Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK. They made use of Marine Environmental Monitoring's TURTLE database. They acknowledged the public's contribution to reporting turtle strandings and sightings, as well as the pivotal role played by CSIP or UK's Cetacean Strandings Investigation Program and SMASS or Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme.

According to Exeter researcher Brendan Godley, they recognize the inputs of the active citizen science in Ireland and the UK supported by government agencies and conservation charities for the conservation of sea turtles.

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