PROTECTION STATUS: Threatened; Pacific population endangered
YEAR PLACED ON LIST: 1978; Pacific population declared endangered in 2011
CRITICAL HABITAT: 685 miles of beaches from Mississippi to North Carolina and more than 300,000 square miles of ocean designated in 2014
RECOVERY PLAN: Northwest Atlantic population 1991; Pacific population 1998
RANGE: Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans
THREATS: Entanglement in fishing nets, coastal development, global warming, beachfront lighting, increased nest predation, pesticides, collisions with watercraft, oil and gas exploration, and human consumption
POPULATION TREND: Pacific populations of loggerhead sea turtles have declined by more than 80 percent in the last 25 years, with fewer than 1,000 females returning to their natal beaches to nest each year. Atlantic and Indian ocean populations are also declining.
