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Sea Turtle Nesting Declines on Southwestern Japan Island

Sea Turtle Nesting Declines on Southwestern Japan Island

A sea turtle swims near Amami-Oshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture. (Courtesy of the Amami Marine Life Research Association)
A sea turtle swims near Amami-Oshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture. (Courtesy of the Amami Marine Life Research Association)

   Kagoshima, Jan. 30 (Jiji Press)--Sea turtle nesting has declined on Amami-Oshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, likely due in part to a drop in their population.
   The reptiles are a year-round treat for snorkelers and other visitors to the southwestern Japan island. The private group Amami Marine Life Research Association, along with the Environment Ministry, the island's five municipalities and others, monitors their egg-laying activities.
   According to the monitoring, 521 sea turtle landings were observed on the island between February and September last year, and their egg-laying activities were seen 289 times, the second lowest since records began in 2012.
   The annual number of times sea turtles spotted laying eggs has remained below 400 since 2021 and sank to a record low of 260 in 2023, only a quarter of the record high of 1,081, set in 2012.
   This trend is more pronounced for loggerhead turtles than for others. The turtles, which eat mollusks and crustaceans, were spotted laying eggs 605 times in 2012, but the number plummeted to 150 in 2015 and 47 in 2024.

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AFP-JIJI PRESS NEWS JOURNAL


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