| Sea Turtles have lived on this earth an estimated 150 million years. There are seven species of these charismatic reptiles in the world, five of which live long periods of their lives foraging and nesting on the coasts off Baja California. These turtles migrate from as far away as Japan, the south of Mexico and Hawaii.
In every part of the world, sea turtles are considered threatened or endangered. Sea turtles are included on protection lists such as CITES, the IUCN's red list, the Interamerican Convention, and the United Status list of Endangered Species. International regulations have been established that prohibit capturing, killing or selling of sea turtles, and the federal laws of Mexico prohibit their killing throughout all parts of the country. Additionally, due to the large amount of turtles that are captured in the nets of shrimp and fishing boats, laws have been established in the U.S. and Mexico requiring that all trawling vessels use TEDs (Turtle Exclusionary Devices), which allow turtles to escape the nets.
Although they are protected, sea turtles need our help! They are regularly captured and sacrificed for the consumption of their meat and eggs. Sea turtles mature very slowly and live very long lives. They need to reach 20 to 30 years of age before they are sexually mature and able to reproduce, and most sea turtles return to the beaches where they were born to lay their eggs.
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