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fifteen years ago cocos island swarmed with turtles why have many disappeared undercurrent 02 2025 email signup subscribe login for divers since 1975 the private exclusive guide for serious divers since 1975 settings login subscribe email signup email signup subscribe login best of the web scuba tips no other source dares to publish forbes x home search destination guides arrow_drop_down caribbean atlantic central western pacific eastern pacific indian ocean mediterranean red sea whole world travel arrow_drop_down reader reports seasonal planner featured reports destination guides mini chapbook general travel issue articles arrow_drop_down recent issues issues archive general travel dive gear health safety miscellaneous all free articles more arrow_drop_down members area special offers news books blogs website arrow_drop_down my account email signup class phabmob subscribe login faq rss other links site map about us contact us home destination guides whole world caribbean atlantic central western pacific eastern pacific indian ocean mediterranean red sea trip planning reader reports seasonal planner destination guides featured reports mini chapbook articles dive gear health safety environment misc this year s all years all free articles general travel news blogs more members area my account books special offers about us faq contact us rss site map other links february 2025 download the entire issue pdf vol 51 no 2 what s this fifteen years ago cocos island swarmed with turtles why have many disappeared contents of this issue all publicly available french polynesia moorea and rangiroa fighting sctld with cocoa butter and chlorine where a border wall is really needed panama palau belize philippines fifteen years ago cocos island swarmed with turtles why have many disappeared an orca grieves her lost calf lost at sea again abbreviations writing in shorthand held hostage until signing a liability waiver unqualified red sea liveaboard crews could this happen in america flotsam jetsam www undercurrent org editorial office ben davison publisher and editor undercurrent 3020 bridgeway suite 102 sausalito ca 94965 contact ben active subscribers go here from the february 2025 issue of undercurrent a new scientific paper multidecadal underwater surveys reveal declines in marine turtles by a collaboration of scientists and institutions including turtle island restoration network shows a strong correlation between the decline of sea turtles and the appearance of tiger sharks at cocos island national park costa rica the research published in conservation and science https tinyurl com bdhxk66z used two data sets long term data collected by undersea hunter from 1997 to 2019 which recorded 12 479 marine turtles and 3 194 tiger sharks across 35 706 dives more recent data from turtle island and the threatened marine species restoration center association crema in which 129 turtles were captured and tagged during approximately 400 dives between 2009 and 2014 tiger sharks were not regularly seen at cocos until around 2010 the long term data set collected by undersea hunter divemasters revealed that as the sharks increased there was a 26 decrease in the relative abundance of turtles we observed tiger sharks trying to consume turtles turtles becoming prey can definitely impact populations a correlation between warmer water temperatures and a decrease in turtle sightings was also established and it may reflect the more extensive worldwide climate changes resulting from burning fossil fuels industrial fishing is devastating shark and sea turtle populations in the eastern tropical pacific with the most significant impact affecting highly migratory species though they are protected at one location like cocos national park they face fishing threats during their migrations turtle island has spearheaded a movement to create the cocos galapagos swimway to connect these two marine protected areas by a no fishing zone along this migratory route data now indicates six species of sharks and turtles move along the proposed swimway including endangered scalloped hammerhead and whale sharks as well as green and leatherback sea turtles while ecuador has extended the galapagos marine reserve border to include the swimway costa rica has not protected its part of the swimway the fear factor plays a significant role in transforming ocean habitats researchers have discovered that just the presence of predators can alter the prey species behavior and the habitats they utilize when i first got to cocos in 2007 and for several years thereafter we would see many sea turtles per trip catching as many as seven on a single dive i haven t seen one on any expeditions in recent years the tigers are there and the turtles are gone now a diver is incredibly lucky to see a single green turtle and maybe a rare hawksbill occasionally transiting through but not sticking around so the question is have turtles left cocos or have they just moved to sites other than the regular dive sites at cocos we suspect both our reasons and hope to refine our understanding by looking at the finer movements of turtles and tiger sharks using the acoustic data we have been collecting we hope to employ a newer technology edna by collecting water samples from different locations around cocos that we don t dive we can determine if turtles are still present todd steiner founder turtle island restoration network you can learn more about our most recent cocos island research expedition at https tinyurl com 2zxzu7xx and learn more about participating by contacting me at tsteiner tirn net you can help by signing an action alert to costa rica here forward this article to your dive buddy i want to get all the stories tell me how i can become an undercurrent online member and get online access to all the articles of undercurrent as well as thousands of first hand reports on dive operations world wide english original find in all of undercurrent all public area pa 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